Laloo on his way to the accident site

Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav has announced a compensation of Rs 100,000 to the families of those killed in the Matsyagandha Express accident in the Konkan region of Maharashtra on Wednesday morning.

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At least 20 people were killed and 100 injured when the Mangalore-Mumbai Matsyagandha Express derailed over a bridge between Veer and Karanja stations, about 200 km from Mumbai, early in the morning.
 
The minister is rushing to the mishap site and all his engagements in the city for the day have been cancelled.

The minister, who was in Kolkata in connection with a railway award function, said those injured would be paid Rs 15,000.

Describing the accident as "unfortunate," the minister said he along with his ministers of state and Railway Board
Chairman R K Singh will reach the accident site in the afternoon.

Emphasising that action would be taken if any negligence was found to be the cause of the accident, the minister said: "We want to see whether precautions had been taken in the area which is a remote hilly region."

He also said that heavy rains in the area apparently led to a landslide which caused the accident.