TEAM HERALD
CANACONA: The State government on Sunday handed over compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of five of the six Goan workers who were killed in the building collapse at Ruby Residency in Chaudi last week, even as two more bodies were pulled out from the debris.
While the first body retrieved on Sunday was identified as a worker from Bihar, the second body retrieved was identified as the last local victim, Krishna (Purso) Velip of Barcem-Quepem. The toll in the tragedy has now risen to 33 and workers were still trying to salvage one more body, which was sighted in the debris of the collapsed building, till late Sunday night.
The body of Velip was handed over to relatives and the final rites were performed in the evening, Krishna’s uncle Thulo Velip told Herald.
According to Acting Collector (south) Venancio Furtado, operations to recover the remaining bodies will
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continue on Monday, the 10th day of the tragedy.
Furtado was again unable to provide the details of the deceased workers in the Ruby Residency tragedy, claiming that operations were still underway and assured to reveal the details only after recovery operations have officially stopped.
Meanwhile, Labour Minister Avertano Furtado and Sports Minister Ramesh Tawadkar along with Furtado and local sarpanchas and panchas visited the houses of the five deceased local workers and handed over cheques of Rs 2 lakh to each to the bereaved families.
The cheques were handed over by the ministers to the families of Dilip Velip and Santosh Bhagat, both from Shristhal-Canacona, in the presence of Shristhal Sarpanch Laximan Raikar, while Gaondongrim Sapranch Umesh Velip was present when cheques were handed over to the families of Subhash Gaonkar, Vikas Gaonkar and Sudhakar Velip, all from Gaondongrem.
