Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has officially ordered an inquiry into the Kushinagar train and school bus accident and announced a compensation of Rs. 2 lakh for the kin of the deceased.
A train crashed into a school van on Thursday morning at an unmanned crossing in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar area, around 50 km from Gorakhpur killing at least 13 children and injuring 8. The minister also stated that the Railways will provide an ex gratia compensation of Rs. 1 lakh for those with serious injuries and Rs. 50,000 for those with simple injuries.
Piyush Goyal said he is deeply pained and anguished over the loss of lives in the tragic accident. “My thoughts are with families of the deceased and I pray for the early recovery of the injured. Ministry of Railways will provide an ex gratia amount of Rs. 2 lakh for kin of the deceased, Rs. 1 lakh for those with serious injuries and Rs. 50,000 for those with simple injuries,” the railway minister said in a statement.
He said that he has ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident, adding “We stand committed to take all possible steps to avoid such accidents in future”.
There were 25 people in the van, mostly children, students of Divine Public School when the Thawe-Kapatanganj passenger train crashed into the van at the unmanned crossing gate at Behpurva, said Railways spokesman Ved Prakash.
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