Kerala govt announces financial relief to kin of temple fire, train accident victims

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government on Wednesday announced financial assistance to the kin of those who died in the recent Kasaragod temple tragedy and in the Shoranur train accident.

A cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, decided to provide Rs four lakh each to the families of four victims who had succumbed to the burns they sustained in the temple festival firecracker accident in Kasaragod district, a CMO statement said.

Four persons died and as many as 154 persons were injured when firecrackers stored in the vicinity exploded at Anjoottanbalam Veererkavu temple near Neeleswaram on October 28.

A solatium of Rs three lakh each would be given to the kin of four sanitary workers who died in a tragic train accident near Shoranur Railway Station on November 2, the statement said.

Four workers, including two women, from Tamil Nadu, died when the Thiruvananthapuram-bound Kerala Express hit them while they were engaged in clearing garbage from the railway track. Among other decisions, the cabinet has decided to extend the tenure of Justice V K Mohan Commission, which is probing the alleged diversion of investigations conducted by various central agencies in the state since July, 2020.

The Commission has also been investigating matters related to Tanur boat tragedy that happened in 2023, and its tenure would be extended for six months in both the cases, the CMO statement added.