NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Monday announced ex gratia payment of Rs. 5 lakh to the next of kin of each of the 35 passengers killed in the accident in Bhagalpur on Saturday.

This is in addition to the compensation that will be decided by the Railway Claims Tribunal.

The Minister made this announcement in his suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha on the accident. Besides, each of the 12 grievously injured passengers will be given Rs. 1 lakh as ex gratia and those who sustained simple injuries will get Rs. 25,000. Also, compensatory employment will be given to one ward of all those killed. Passengers incapacitated despite treatment will also be given jobs in the Railways for self or a family member.

Mr. Prasad said the accident occurred because of negligence on the part of engineers. Three engineers of the Construction Department had been suspended and the contractor blacklisted, he said. An FIR had been lodged against them at the local police station.

Mr. Prasad said the contractor and the three engineers (Deputy Chief Engineer, Assistant Engineer and Junior Engineer) had failed to take steps though one span of the old road overbridge (ROB) — which came down on the Howrah-Jamalpur Express — had collapsed the previous Thursday.

"Fortunately, no train was passing under the bridge at that time."

General Managers of the Railways had been ordered to ensure observance of stipulated practices and procedures and to take adequate precautions to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

Giving details about the steps taken by his Ministry, Mr. Prasad said the General Manager of Eastern Railway and the Divisional Rail Manager of the Malda Division along with their team of officers reached the site soon after the accident. Stating that he himself had visited the site and met the family members of the dead and injured, the Minister said the new ROB had been constructed and the process of dismantling the old bridge had commenced only about a week ago.

Some points made by the Minister were hotly contested by Bhagalpur MP Shahnawaz Hussain (BJP) who said that Mr. Prasad should own moral responsibility for the accident and resign. Charging the Minister with arriving late at the accident site, Mr. Hussain said: "Mr. Prasad acted more like a politician instead of the Railway Minister. Had he reached the site earlier, more lives could have been saved."

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