The bodies of 22 out of 23 Ayyappa devotees from Andhra Pradesh killed in the stampede near Kerala's Sabarimala shrine were brought here on Sunday and sent to their hometowns. The bodies of three victims from Krishna district and two each from Nizamabad and Guntur districts and one each from Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Karimnagar and Prakasam districts were flown in by three different flights from Chennai.

State ministers Kasu Venkatakrishna Reddy, Shankar Rao, Jupalli Krishna Rao, D.K. Aruna and Parthasarthi and National Disaster Management Authority vice chairman M. Shashidhar Reddy were present at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport to receive the bodies.

The bodies of 11 other victims are likely to be brought by different flights by Sunday night Meanwhile, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has announced compensation of Rs.100,000 to the families of each of the victims. He directed officials to provide all necessary assistance for the treatment of the injured.

Published Date : Monday, 17/1/2011 1:45 PM IST