The toll from Monday’s incident at Navi Mumbai’s Kharghar, in Raigad district, where several people suffered heatstrokes at a function to confer the Maharashtra Bhushan, the highest civilian award in the state, rose to 13. Among the 13 now confirmed dead from heatstrokes are 9 women and 4 men, the Collector for Raigad district informed on Monday.
“A total of 12 persons are still undergoing treatment at various hospitals while another 35 were discharged on Monday,” said Yogesh Mhase, Raigad collector. The deceased were identified as Tulshiram Bhau Wagad, Jayshree Jagannath Patil, Mahesh Narayan Gaykar, Kalawati Siddram Vaychal, Manjusha Krishna Bhombde, Bhima Krishna Salvi, Savita Sanjay Pawar, Swapnil Sadashiv Keni, Pushpa Madan Gaykar, Vandana Jagannath Patil, Meenakshi Mohan Mistry, Gulab Baban Patil and Vinayak Haldankar.
The award ceremony was held at Kharghar in Raigad district on Sunday. At the conclusion of the function, some members allegedly suffered heatstrokes, Maharashtra CM Shinde tweeted earlier. The ceremony was also attended by Union home minister Amit Shah, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis.
Earlier, in the aftermath of the incident, Chief Minister Shinde declared Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the next-of-kin of the deceased, adding that the entire medical expenses for those undergoing treatment would be borne by the state government. “Families of the victims will be given Rs 5 lakh each and we are ensuring proper treatment for those admitted in hospitals,” Shinde said.
Former CM Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said the award ceremony could have been planned better. “We met the people who are undergoing treatment. I interacted with four to five patients. Two of them are in critical condition. The event was not planned properly. Who will investigate this incident?” Uddhav told the media earlier after meeting some of the patients.
On Monday, Uddhav, his son Aditya Thackeray and NCP leader Ajit Pawar visited the MGM Kamothe Hospital to take stock of the situation after 11 persons died of heatstroke at the award ceremony in Khargar. Some of the affected people were admitted to Tata Hospital in Kharghar.
