As an interim relief, the central government will make a payment of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of each deceased who lost their lives in the aircraft crash in Kozhikode, while Rs 2 lakh will be given to the seriously injured, Hardeep Singh Puri, the Civil Aviation Minister said.

Puri on Saturday reached Kozhikode Airport to take stock of the situation and implementation of relief measures being carried out at the crash site where an Air India Express flight crash-landed on Friday evening, killing 18 people.

"As an interim relief, we will be making a payment of Rs 10 lakhs (to kin) of each deceased, Rs 2 lakhs for seriously injured and Rs 50,000 for those who suffered minor injuries," said Puri.

"We were fortunate that unlike the tragic accident at Mangaluru Airport 10 years ago, where the aircraft caught fire, here preventive action minimised the loss of lives," he added.

It is very unfortunate that 18 people including the two pilots have lost their lives in this air accident. I once again offer my condolences to the families of the bereaved & wish speedy recovery to those injured.

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) August 8, 2020

The Civil Aviation Minister continued saying that the aircraft was being captained and operated by one of our most experienced and distinguished commanders, Captain Deepak Sathe.

"In fact, he had landed on this airfield as many as 27 times, including this year," he added.

Puri earlier took to Twitter and wrote, "My heart goes out to the families and friends of the 18 people who lost their lives in the air accident involving Air India Express Flight IX-1344 in Kozhikode last evening and offer my heartfelt condolences. Reasons for the mishap are being investigated."

At least 18 people including two pilots have lost their lives in the incident. However, the four-cabin crew members are safe, said the Air India Express in a statement. The injured are admitted to hospitals in Malappuram and Kozhikode, according to Kerala government officials.

The flight was carrying 190 passengers including 10 infants when it skidded while landing at Karipur airport in Kozhikode on Friday evening.

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