Goyal announces Rs 5 lakh compensation for Howrah stampede victims

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh to those injured in a stampede at a railway foot overbridge at Santragachhi station in Howrah.

Goyal in a statement said, "Railways would give ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of every deceased, Rs 1 lakh would be given to the grievously injured and Rs 50,000 to those who suffered simple injuries."

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited the hospital where the injured were being treated, earlier announced a compensation of Rs five lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh each to the injured.

At least two people died and over dozen others injured including two children on Tuesday evening in a stampede at Satrangachhi station.

Railway Ministry spokeserson Smita Vats said, "The incident happened around 6 p.m. at a foot overbridge due to over crowding."

She said that the incident happened due to arrival of three trains in a short interval of time.

The stampede occurred around 6 p.m. when the passengers hurriedly tried to cross the foot overbridge between two platforms following an announcement of three trains coming simultaneously on two adjacent tracks.

The mishap occurred just four days after 59 people were killed when a train crushed them as they stood on rail tracks watching Ravana effigies go up in flames during Dussehra celebrations in Amritsar.

--IANS

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