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Kozhikode, Aug 8: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of each passenger who died when an Air India Express flight veered off the runway while attempting to land at the Karipur International Airport here on August 7.

He was briefing the media after visiting the crash site at the airport and the injured at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.

Offering his condolences, the Chief Minister said, "Apart from the solatium for the victims, the state government would bear the treatment expenses of all those injured in this unfortunate plane crash irrespective of the hospitals they are in. The Civil Aviation Ministry and other Central Government agencies are expected to announce compensation for the air passengers. 

If any further assistance is required, the State Government will take an appropriate decision at that time to support them to get back to a normal life."

"However, the immediate task now is to ensure the best possible treatment for the survivors of the accident. The District Authority is coordinating the treatment of those rescued who are now in 16 hospitals across Kozhikode and Malappuram Districts," added Vijayan.

Of the 190 people on board the ill-fated plane, there were 184 passengers and six crew members. Of the 18 dead so far, 14 are adults (seven males and females each) and four are children. Both the Pilot and the Co-Pilot are among those dead. At present, 149 passengers are hospitalised, of them 23 with serious injuries. Till now, 23 passengers have been discharged. There are few passengers from Tamil Nadu and Telangana also.

All the dead have been identified, eight from Kozhikode district, six from Malappuram district and two from Palakkad district. The post mortem process has been expedited despite the Covid threat and is expected to finish before evening. All the accident victims will be tested for Covid including those who died in the crash. So far, only one victim has tested positive for coronavirus, the Chief Minister said.

He also appreciated the instant response by the local public living in the vicinity of the airport and also the local authorities to this tragedy which ensured the minimum loss of lives in a disaster of such large magnitude as a plane crash. The rescue operations were finished in the shortest possible time yesterday.

"Even though 18 precious lives have been lost due to the impact of the crash, the rescue operations were a miraculous work. The general public and the officials played a big role in spearheading the rescue operations," he said.

Vijayan along with Governor Arif Mohammad Khan reached Kozhikode this morning.

Governor Arif Mohammad Khan expressed his condolences and sympathies to the families of the accident victims and his best wishes for the speedy recovery of those injured.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by the Niyamasabha Speaker, P. Sreeramakrishnan; Minister for Industry E.P Jayarajan, Minister for Health and Social Justice, K K Shailaja; Minister for Agriculture V.S Sunilkumar; Minister for Ports Ramachandran Kadannappalli; Minister for Transport AK Saseendran, Minister for Excise T.P Ramakrishnan, Chief Secretary, Dr Vishwas Mehta; and State Police Chief, Loknath Behra, DGP. 

The Minister for Local Self Governments, A C Moideen and the Minister for Higher Education and Welfare of Minorities, Dr K T Jaleel were already present in Kozhikode.

New Delhi, Aug 7: With the highest single-day spike of 62,538 cases, India's COVID-19 count rose to 20,27,075 on Friday, said Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total cases include 6,07,384 active cases, 13,78,106 cured/discharged/migrated, and 41,585 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

The country's COVID-19 positive cases crossed the 10 lakh mark on July 17 when the total positive cases stood at 10,03,832 in India.

Maharashtra with 1,46,268 active cases and 3,05,521 cured and discharged patients continues to be the worst affected. The state has also reported 16,476 deaths due to the infection.

Tamil Nadu has 54,184 active cases while 2,14,815 patients have been discharged after treatment in the state. 4,461 deaths have been reported due to COVID-19 in the state.

Total COVID-19 cases in Andhra Pradesh are 1,96,789 including 1,12,870 recoveries, 82,166 active cases, and 1,753 deaths, as per the last health bulletin.

Delhi reported 1,192 new COVID-19 cases and 23 deaths on Friday. The total count of cases in the national capital has risen to 1,42,723. 

According to the Health Department, a total of 1,108 recoveries have been reported in Delhi in the last 24 hours.

The total number of cases includes 1,28,232 recoveries, 10,409 active cases, and 4,082 deaths.

According to the official data, 5,612 RT-PCR/CBNAAT/TrueNat tests and 17,773 rapid antigen tests were conducted today.

A total of 11,43,703 test has been conducted so far. The Union Health Ministry said that India continues its track record of testing more than 6 lakh COVID-19 samples each day for the fourth successive day.

"Expanded diagnostic lab network and facilitation for easy testing across the country have given a boost, and with 6,39,042 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, India has done 2,27,88,393 tests presently. The Tests Per Million (TPM) has seen a sharp increase to 16,513," the ministry said.

As many as 473 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Jammu and Kashmir today; 128 from Jammu division and 345 from Kashmir division.

The total number of cases stood at 23,927 including 7,260 actives cases, 16,218 recoveries, and 449 deaths.

The government of Mizoram informed that 19 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state, taking the total number of cases to 558.
The number of active cases is 270 while 288 people have been discharged. No death reported in the state to date.

Bihar Health Department said, 3646 new cases reported in the state on August 6. Total tally reaches 71,794.

Similarly, 244 new COVID-19 cases, 77 recoveries, and five deaths were reported in Puducherry on Friday, taking the total number of cases to 4,862, including 1,873 active cases, 2,914 recoveries, and 75 deaths.

1,063 new cases of COVID-19 cases, 381 recovered and 23 deaths reported in Punjab in the last 24 hours. State tally rises to 21,930 including 7,351 active cases, 14,040 cured/discharged and 539 deaths.

Meanwhile, 1,074 new cases of COVID-19 and 22 deaths reported in Gujarat in last the 24 hours. State tally rises to 68,885 including 14,587 active cases, 51,692 cured/discharged and 2,606 deaths, the State Health Department said.

According to the Union Health Ministry, West Bengal has 23,829 active cases with 1,902 deaths so far while, Karnataka has 75,076 active cases of the virus with 80,281 recovered and 2,897 deaths so far.