UP CM announces Rs 2 lakh ex gratia to kin of each of deceased
In a tragic incident, at least 23 people were killed and several others injured after a roof of a shelter at a cremation ground at Ukhlarsi village in Muradnagar in Ghaziabad district collapsed on Sunday.
The roof collapsed when several people had taken shelter at the structure while it rained. Most of them were relatives of Yadaram, who was being cremated at that time.
Rescue workers sifted through the rubble for hours to ensure that more victims were not trapped there.
A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was also sent to the spot in Muradnagar's Ukhlarsi village.
Apart from the 23 dead, 20 others are admitted at different hospitals, officials said on Sunday evening.
They added that the number of the injured could be higher as some others were taken away from the site by their relatives.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the loss of lives. He also announced Rs 2 lakh as financial relief for the families of each person killed.
Police said they have identified the bodies of 14 deceased persons out of the 23 dead. They have been identified as Omkar (45), Neeraj alias Bunty (40), Joginder (42), Sunil (44), Om Prakash Arya (68), Robin, Pramod (34), Nitin Chauhan (34), Pappu Singh (45), Babu (45), Akshay (48), Vinod (58), Dilip Batra (68) and Mayank (18), all residents of Muradnagar district.
The CM directed the Divisional Commissioner of Meerut and Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Meerut zone to submit a report in this connection. The CM also directed officials to give financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased.
Union Minister VK Singh, who is a Member of Parliament from Ghaziabad, and several senior police and administration officials, visited the accident site. According to District Magistrate Dr Ajay Shankar Pande, the incident happened when the people of Dayanand Colony near Ukhralasi village were going to cremate the body of 62-year-old Yadram at the local Shamsham Ghat.
Among those who died were journalist Mukesh Soni's 22-year-old son Digvijay Soni.
Following the incident, the CM also took cognizance of the incident of roof collapse in Muradnagar, Ghaziabad and instructed the District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) to reach the spot immediately and conduct relief and rescue operations. UP's Minister of State for Health and local MLA, Atul Garg also reached the hospital and took stock of the situation and treatment of the injured. He directed the hospital administration not to take any carelessness in treating the injured.