The Union government has taken steps for bringing to the State the bodies of the Keralites killed in a bus accident in Dubai, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan said on Friday. Seventeen people, including a dozen Indians, were killed when an Oman-registered bus they were travelling on hit an overhead road sign in Dubai on Friday. Among those killed are eight Keralites.
Three still hospitalised
He told reporters here that the Consul General has swung into action. Medical care was being provided to the injured. Four among the injured had left the hospital and three others were undergoing treatment, he said.
A control room has been set up (phone number 00971565463903) to provide information to the relatives of the victims. (Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said all measures were being taken to speed up procedures to bring back the bodies of the accident victims. However, some delay was likely because of a two-day holiday in Dubai, he said.)
Mr. Muraleedharan said he had discussed the steep hike in airfares levied during the festival season with the Union Civil Aviation Minister and also on the current practice of fixing the fare of bodies being brought from abroad on the basis of their weight. The government would hold a meeting under the aegis of the Union Civil Aviation Secretary to discuss the issue, he said.
The Ministry had a separate division to address the complaints of State governments. It would be in touch with the States to sort out their issues, he said.