Hyderabad, July 24 (IANS): A Telangana minister has blamed negligence by the railways for the ghastly accident at a railway crossing in Medak district that left 19 school children dead.
Irrigation minister Harish Rao said railways failed to install a gate despite repeated representations by local people and public representatives.
Rao was talking to reporters at Masayipet where a train hit a school bus, killing 19 children and the driver and injured 20.
He said the gate would be installed within a week. He said road over bridges or under bridges and gates at unmanned crossings will be constructed wherever required in Telangana.
He said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had ordered a probe. The state government will pay Rs.5 lakh ex-gratia each to the families of the dead.
Home minister N. Narasimha Reddy has also blamed railways for the disaster.