Nepal bus accident: Maharashtra CM announces Rs 5 lakh ex gratia to victims from Jalgaon

Jalgaon (Maharashtra) [India], August 25 (ANI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday announced a financial aid of Rs 5 lakh to the families of those from Jalgaon who lost their lives in a bus accident in Nepal, which claimed 27 lives in western Nepal on Friday.

Earlier in the day, expressing his grief over the accident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the Indian government immediately contacted the Nepalese authorities following the incident.

“I would like to express my grief over the Nepal bus accident. Among those who lost their lives, several were from Jalgaon. I offer my condolences to all the bereaved families,” PM Modi said during his address at the Lakhpati Didi Sammelan in Jalgaon on Sunday.

He assured that the injured were receiving proper medical treatment. “As soon as this accident occurred, the government immediately reached out to the Nepalese authorities. We instructed our minister, Raksha Khadse, to go to Nepal without delay. We have brought back the bodies of our deceased citizens on a special Air Force plane,” Prime Minister Modi said.

“Those who are injured are being well cared for. I wish them a speedy recovery,” he added.

PM Modi also has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh from Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the families of those died in the mishap. Those injured in the accident would be given Rs 50,000, the PMO said in a post.

The Indian Air Force’s C-130 J aircraft, carrying the mortal remains of 25 Indian pilgrims who were killed in the road accident in Nepal, landed at Jalgaon Airport in Maharashtra on Saturday. The military aircraft had flown to Bharatpur city in Chitwan district, near the Tanahun district, where the India-registered bus had crashed on Friday.

A total of 27 people were killed in the bus accident, which saw the vehicle veering off the road and into a river basin. Indradev Yadav, Chief District Officer of Chitwan, earlier stated that two of the bodies were sent to their hometown, Gorakhpur, by road.

Autopsies were performed at Bharatpur Hospital, and the bodies were then handed over to Indian authorities for transportation. Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Raksha Nikhil Khadse, and Maharashtra legislator Sanjay Shubhakar arrived in Nepal on Saturday morning to check on the health of the injured Indian nationals.

Both officials returned on the same aircraft. Khadse met with all 16 injured individuals undergoing treatment at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu and received updates on their condition.

Raksha Nikhil Khadse thanked the Nepalese government for their prompt assistance in the search and rescue operations and for the treatment provided to the injured. She also expressed appreciation for the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu for their coordination efforts on the ground with Nepalese authorities.

The bus was en route to Kathmandu from Pokhara when it skidded off the road at Ainapahara in ward 2 of the rural municipality and fell about 150 metres into the river on Friday.