Odisha govt hands over Rs 2 lakh cheque to next of kin of the

The Odisha government on Sunday handed over cheques of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the victims of the bus accident in Ganjam district in which 11 people had died.

State Energy minister D S Mishra said a process was on to provide another Rs 4 lakh each to the affected families by the Energy Department.

Ten passengers were electrocuted and burned alive and 22 passengers injured when the bus they were travelling came in contact with a sagging 33KV live wire at Dangalpadu village on February 9.

One of the injured had died later.

States Transport minister Padmanav Behera, Energy minister Diby Shankar Mishra, Science and Technology minister Ashok Panda, along with Berhampur MP Chandra Sekhar Sahu and MLAs Usha Devi, Pradeep Panigrahy, Bikram Panda, Subash Behera on Sunday visited Dankalpadu village, where nine of the 11 victims belonged to.

"As per Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's announcement, we have handed over the cheques to the family members of the deceased," the transport minister said.

Free treatment was also provided to the injured, as per the directives of the chief minister, he said.