Odisha CM Announces Rs 3 Lakh Ex-Gratia For 5 Run Over By Truck During Wedding Procession

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh each for the next of the kin of those who died after being run over by a speeding truck in Odisha’s Keonjhar district late last night.

The amount is being released from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

The CM has expressed grief over the deaths and directed for free treatment of those injured in the accident while wishing them speedy recovery.

Notably, five members of a family, participating in a groom’s wedding procession, were run over by a speeding truck on National Highway-20 around 1.30am, barely a few metres away from the bride’s house at Sathighar Sahi. “Five persons including nephew of the groom died on the spot. Fire services personnel rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to the district headquarters hospital. We have seized the truck,” said a senior police officer.

In a similar incident on Sunday, 12 members of a bride’s family, including her three sisters, were killed after a Bhubaneswar-bound bus of state-run bus collided with a mini bus in which they were travelling.