New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed grief over the loss of lives in the Kolkata fire tragedy and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin. An amount of Rs Rs 50,000 has also been approved by the Prime Minister to those who have been seriously injured in the incident.
At least nine people were killed in a major fire at the 13th floor of the Eastern Railways office at Strand road in central part of the city on Monday evening.
In a tweet, PM Modi said, "Saddened by the loss of lives due to the fire tragedy in Kolkata. In this hour of sadness, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover at the earliest."
The deceased include four firefighters, two Railway personnel and a police ASI who have been fighting the fire.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reached the spot at 2215 hrs and announced Rs 10 lakh each and a government job to the kin of the victims. In addition,
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has set up a high-level inquiry consisting of four Principal heads of Railway departments to ascertain the cause of the fire.
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