Title - Disbursement of exgratia to Hampi Express victims expedited

Bangalore  : South Western Railway (SWR) has speeded up disbursement of exgratia to victims of Hampi Express in which 25 people were killed and 34 injured at Penukonda in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh yesterday.Ex-gratia amount of Rs 15,000 each was given to the kith and kin of the deceased, Rs 5000 each was given to grievously injured passengers and Rs 500 each was given to those who who sustained simple injuries as per guidlines in force, according to a release here today.Union Minister of Railways Mukul Roy, who rushed to the accident spot from Kolkata yesterday, announced enhanced ex-gratia of Rs five lakh each for next kin of the dead, Rs one lakh for those grievously injured and Rs 50,000 to those who sustained simple injuries.As soon as the enhanced ex-gratia was announced, the Division deputed two teams of officials to visit the Railway Hospital at Bangalore, Sanjay Gandhi Trauma and Orthopaedic Centre at Bangalore and Satya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam Hospital at Puttaparthy, to hand over the enhanced ex-gratia amount to the injured passengers undergoing treatment.Those passengers who had left after treatment of simple injuries and discharged were being traced since they were from the villages.Out of the 25 deceased, 23 have been identified. In 17 cases where the immediate kith and kin were identified, a team of railway officials have been deputed to visit their places and hand over the enhanced ex-gratia amount tomorrow.

This was expected to be over by tomorrow. For the remaining cases efforts are being made to identify the beneficiaries.