Fifteen labourers who were sleeping near the road were crushed to death by a truck on Tuesday, 19 January, in Gujarat's Surat district, NDTV reported. The truck driver has been arrested, according to PTI.
The incident reportedly took place near Kosamba village, around 60 km from Surat.
“All the deceased are labourers and they hail from Rajasthan,” the police said, according to ANI.
According to the NDTV report, a truck ran over the labourers on the Kim-Mandvi road, leaving 12 dead on the spot.
Eight of the injured labourers were taken to a nearby hospital, but three passed away during treatment, according to the police.
PMO Announces Ex-Gratia
Soon after, the PMO took to Twitter to announce that ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from PMNRF (Prime Minister's National Relief Fund) would be given to the next of kin of those who have lost their lives in the accident. In addition, Rs 50,000 each will be given to those injured in the incident.
The PMO also put out a statement from PM Modi condoling the deaths of the workers.
Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those who died in the incident, ANI reported.
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot also took to Twitter to condole the deaths, saying that many of the labourers involved in the accident were from Banswara, in Rajasthan.
Gehlot also announced that the Rajasthan government will be providing Rs 2 lakh compensation to the family of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those injured, from the CM Relief Fund.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI and NDTV.)
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