Bhopal: The residents of Panna district in Madhya Pradesh bade a tearful farewell to their dear ones on Tuesday when the last rites of 24 pilgrims who lost their lives in a bus tragedy in Uttarakhand were performed. Out of 25 people, losing their lives in the accident, 24 were from Panna and one was from Chhatarpur district.
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After an Air Force carrier landed at the Khajuraho airport with the bodies on Monday evening, the state administration made arrangements for sending them to their villages. Panna district collector Sanjay Kumar Mishra said that ambulances from Satna, Panna, Chattarpur carried the bodies. State BJP president V D Sharma, an MP from the Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency, met the families of the deceased.
Sharma told journalists that the state government stood behind the bereaved families and that it also took care of the injured. The bus, carrying 30 people including the driver and helper, fell into a 150-metre-deep gorge on Sunday when it was travelling to the Yamunotri Dham.
Later that day, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, together with Sharma, cabinet minister Brijendra Pratap Singh, DGP Sudhir Saxena and OSD Yogesh Chaudhary, arrived in Uttarakhand.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased. The state government will also give an ex gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured. The government will also bear all medical expenses of the injured.
