Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jairam Thakur updating on the Kinnaur landslide situation said that the state government will provide kin of deceased Rs 4 Lakhs each while Rs 1 Lakh each will be provided by Transport Department.
Further he also said that critically injured will get Rs 50,000 each and medical expenses of people with minor injuries will be borne by state government.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the landslide rose to 14 with the recovery of four more bodies as the rescue operation resumed early on Thursday, officials said.
The rescue work being carried out jointly by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), ITBP, police and home guards, resumed at 6 am, state Disaster Management Director Sudesh Kumar Mokhta said. The state authorities had suspended the rescue operation around 10 pm on Wednesday.
In a video clip that surfaced on social media, a rescuer working at the site near the mangled remains of the bus is heard saying that the vehicle was found by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) 17th Battalion. Another rescuer says that gloves should be brought for continuing the rescue operation. Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Abid Hussain Sadiq said four more bodies were recovered from the spot after the rescue operation resumed on Thursday.
Fourteen bodies have been recovered so far, he told PTI. Thirteen people were rescued with injuries on Wednesday and sent to a Bhawanagar community health centre (CHC) for treatment. Several others were still feared buried. However, their exact number is not known.
The CM said the state government will also conduct a geological survey of the area. Earlier, a two-minute silence was observed in the state Assembly to pay homage to those who died in the landslide.
Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj told the Assembly that CM Thakur, along with Industries and Transport Minister Bikram Singh, has gone to the spot to take stock of the rescue work. Bhardwaj said the landslide occurred at a place where people usually stop their vehicles to look at the scenic view and take photographs.
The state government had requisitioned four helicopters for rescue work on Wednesday but they could not reach the site due to bad weather, he added.
Senior Congress leader Asha Kumari said Leader of the Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, Rampur MLA Nand Lal and Shimla Rural MLA Vikramaditya Singh have also gone to the spot.
The dead have been identified as Rohit Kumar (25), a resident of Kaiya village at Rampur in Shimla; Vijay Kumar (32) of Jhol village in Sujanpur of Hamirpur ; two-year-old Vanshuka of Sapni in Sangla of Kinnaur; Meera Devi, Nitisha, Prem Kumari , Gyan Dassi, Devi Chand (53), Kumari Radhika (22), Bhupender (29), all from Kinnaur; Kamlesh Kumar (34) of Rechuta village in Solan and Lakshman Thapa (19), who hails from Nepal and currently living in Theog, Shimla.
