KOZHIKODE: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those who died in the Air India Express crash on Friday evening. The compensation will be given to the next of kin of each passenger who died in the mishap at the Karipur International Airport.
Of the 190 people on board the ill-fated plane, there were 184 passengers and six crew members. Of the 18 dead so far, 14 are adults (seven males and females each) and four are children. Both the pilot and co-pilot are among those dead. At present, 149 passengers are hospitalised including 23 with serious injuries. Till now, 23 passengers have been discharged. There are a few passengers from Tamil Nadu and Telangana also.
Offering his condolences during his visit in Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, the Chief Minister said in a media briefing, “Apart from the solatium for the victims, the state government would bear the treatment expenses of all those injured in this unfortunate plane crash irrespective of the hospitals they are in. The Civil Aviation Ministry and other central government agencies are expected to announce compensation for the air passengers. If any further assistance is required, the state government will take an appropriate decision at that time to support them to get back to a normal life. However, the immediate task now is to ensure the best possible treatment for the survivors of the accident. The district authority is coordinating the treatment of those rescued who are now in 16 hospitals across Kozhikode and Malappuram districts.”
All the dead have been identified -- eight are from Kozhikode district, six from Malappuram district and two from Palakkad district, apart from the pilot and co-pilot. The postmortem process has been expedited to finish before evening. All the accident victims will be tested for COVID-19 including those who died in the crash. So far, only one victim has tested positive.
The Chief Minister also appreciated the instant response by the local public living in the vicinity of the airport. “Even though 18 precious lives have been lost due to the impact of the crash, the rescue operations were a miraculous work. The general public and the officials played a big role in spearheading the rescue operations.”
Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, who was present along with the CM, expressed his sympathies to the families of the accident victims and his best wishes for the speedy recovery of those injured.
The Chief Minister was accompanied by the Niyamasabha Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan, Minister for Industry EP Jayarajan, Minister for Health & Social Justice K K Shailaja, Minister for Agriculture VS Sunilkumar, Minister for Ports Ramachandran kadannappalli, Minister for Transport AK Saseendran, Minister for Excise TP Ramakrishnan, Chief Secretary, Dr Vishwas Mehta and State Police Chief Loknath Behra, DGP.