Tamil Nadu announces state mourning for one day, cancels govt functions

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced that one-day state mourning would be observed on Saturday as a mark of respect to the victims of the Coromandel express accident. He also announced compensation worth Rs 5 lakh to the family members of the deceased from the state.  
Over 238 passengers have died after the Coromandel and Bengaluru- Howrah express trains derailed and hit a goods train at Bahanaga station in Odisha’s Balasore district on Friday.  
A statement released by DIPR said, Chief Minister MK Stalin contacted his Odisha counterpart and assured of extending all the necessary assistance including dispatching an emergency medical team, to the state.
A team comprising transport minister SS Sivasankar, additional principal secretary to transport department K Paneendar Reddy, additional principal secretary to revenue and disaster management team Kumar Jayanth and TRB chairman Archana Patnaik has travelled to the accident spot to assist the passengers who travelled in the train from Tamil Nadu, the statement added.
He also announced that one-day state mourning would be observed in the state on Saturday as a mark of respect to the victims of the accident and cancelled all the government functions that were scheduled to take place.
Speaking to reporters after holding a meeting with higher-ups, Stalin said, “The train accident has shaken the country. I spoke with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik immediately after the accident and assured of extending all the possible assistance to them in the emergency situation. Ministers Udhayanidhi Stalin and Sivashankar had gone to the accident spot along with senior officials to assist the victims. We are yet to get details regarding the train passengers who travelled from the state. Arrangements would be made to bring the bodies of the deceased to the state. Helpline numbers have been announced.”
In addition to the compensation announced by the union government and the railways department to the deceased, Stalin had announced a compensation worth Rs 5 lakh to the family members of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh to the injured passengers from the state.  The amount would be distributed after getting full details about the passengers.
The union government has announced compensation worth Rs 2 lakhs and railways has announced compensation worth Rs 10 lakh to the family members of the deceased.
Union railway minister Ashwini Vainav has confirmed that about 238 people had died in the accident. While about 869 people from Tamil Nadu had booked the train, the exact details about the passengers is yet to be known.