Amritsar, October 24: The tragic accident in Punjab's Amritsar on Friday claimed lives of at least 61 people and injured nearly 72. Following the mishap, a headless body, which was found lying on the railway track, was claimed by several people. These people claimed that the deceased was their kin and asked for compensation from the state government. According to a BBC report, there were many who claimed in the General Railway Police (GRP) for the body of a 35-year-old man but after they were asked to do a DNA test, most of them did not return.
The report further informed that a day after the accident, a person from Madhya Pradesh claimed that he had identified the corpse and it was his brother's dead body. A day later, a woman from Gonda district contacted GRP and claimed that the body is from her husband, but did not return for the DNA test. Dussehra Event Organiser Saurabh Madan Mithu Releases Video, Claims 'Asked People 10 Times Not To Stand On Railway Tracks'.
GRP SHO Balbir Singh Ghuman confirmed two families have approached to take the dead body. Ghuman informed that families that they will have to take a DNA test to confirm their claim. Amritsar MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu 'Adopts Families of Those Killed in Train Tragedy'.
In the wake of the mishap, the Punjab Government has announced a grant of five lakh rupees to the families of those killed in the train accident. The accident took place after a crowd of Dussehra revellers spilled onto railway tracks while watching the burning of Ravana effigy. The revellers were run over by a train near the Joda Phatak in Amritsar. According to PTI reports, the train was coming from Jalandhar to Amritsar and over 300 people were at the spot watching 'Ravana dahan' at a ground near the tracks.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 24, 2018 01:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).