Hyderabad, February 28 Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy handed over a compensation of Rs five lakh each to the families of 44 Indian nationals who were killed in a bus fire accident in Saudi Arabia in November last year.
At an event held in the Secretariat here, he also gave cheques of Rs three lakh to those who were critically injured.
Speaking on the occasion, Reddy said the government deputed a delegation led by Minority Welfare Minister Mohammad Azharuddin to Medina soon after learning about the accident, and facilitated the visit of family members by expediting the issuance of passports and visas.
The government also helped with the funeral of the deceased by holding talks with the Indian Consulate and the Saudi government, he said.
Although ex-gratia is generally not provided for those who died outside the country, the state government decided to help the families of those who died in the Saudi accident, taking a humanitarian view, he said.
He further said that although the ex-gratia cheques could have been sent to their homes, the government called the family members to the Secretariat to meet them.
Recalling his association with Muslims, he said that he has been sending five people from his assembly constituency of Kodangal to the Haj pilgrimage every year at his own expense since 2009.
Azharuddin and several government officials were present on the occasion.
At least 45 Indians, mostly Umrah pilgrims from Hyderabad, were killed in Medina, Saudi Arabia, after their bus collided with an oil tanker in November last year.