Heart wrenching scenes were witnessed on Sunday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad, as relatives of Ayyappa devotees gave way to their emotions, and received the bodies of the unfortunate victims who were killed in a
stampede at Pulmedu near Sabarimala in Kerala on Friday night.
According to airport officials, the mortal remains of the 15 devotees were received at the airport from Kochi. The remaining 7 bodies are expected to be received later. The authorities have arranged 25 ambulances at the airport to transport the bodies and the injured to their native places, or to hospitals.
The bodies were brought in chartered flights arranged by the Andhra Pradesh and Kerala governments.
Meanwhile, the state government has announced Rs. 1 lakh as ex-gratia to the next of kin of the 22 Ayyappa devotees from the state who were crushed to death in the stampede. This is in addition to the Rs. 5 lakh ex-gratia announced by the Kerala government, and the Rs. 1 lakh to be given by the centre.
The state government has also directed Health Department officials to ensure that the best of treatment facilities be extended to the injured persons after Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy convened a meeting with the department officials.
The Collectors of Hyderabad and Rangareddy were supervising the arrangements of handing over the bodies to their families.
According to the list released by the government, the victims have been identified as Srinivas (18), G Rambabu Reddy (60), Achyuth (22), Sarveshan (30), G Venkateswara Rao (25), K Raikumar Appa (41), Puppala Prasad (25), B Prasad, N Ganesh (20), G Sreenu (26), B Ramu (22), P Gangadhara Rao, Ramachandran (50), Arun Kumar (20), G Raj (32), K Gopinath, Gujuta Venkateswar Rao (35), Aravind (24), S Hariprasad (35), K Govinda Rao, D Sreeramachandramurthy and P Surlu (30).
Courtesy: INN