Rs 10 lakh ex gratia for blast victims

KOCHI: Cochin Shipyard Limited on Tuesday announced an immediate ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the families of the deceased. CSL also promised to take care of treatment expenses of the injured as per the existing policies of the company.

Madhu S Nair

, chairman and managing director of Cochin Shipyard Ltd visited the families of the deceased at the hospital and assured them of compensation in line with the policy of the company.

“The families will get all standard allowances and compensation apart from the immediate relief announced by the company. It is mandatory for employees to be insured and hence assistance for getting the insurance amount will also be provided,” said the chairman.

The chairman said that no serious damages has been caused to the ship. “The side panels of the tank have budged following the blast. The damages are to the steel plates which can be fixed,” said the chairman.

Officials said that fire safety personnel onboard the ship immediately started firefighting to avoid further damage. Two firemen rushed into the smoke-filled area and started fire fighting and rescue operations. Others continued firefighting from the forward hatch and reached the incident spot.

Union minister for shipping Nitin Gadkari said he was shocked by incident. "My heartfelt condolences to bereaved families. I have spoken to MD,Cochin Shipyard and asked him to provide all necessary medical support to victims and to initiate immediate inquiry with help of concerned agencies," he said in a tweet.