Indian PM Modi offers compensation after 27 killed in Nepal bus crash

Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Saturday the families of the 27 Indian citizens who died in a tourist bus crash in Nepal will receive cash compensation of around $2,300 each.

Cash assistance of $600 will be offered to the 16 others who were injured in Friday's accident, the prime minister's office said in a social media post .

Modi earlier sent his condolences to the victims, saying, "Saddened by the loss of lives due to a road mishap in Tanahun district, Nepal. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover at the earliest. The Indian Embassy is providing all possible assistance to those affected."

Officials said the bus was carrying mostly Indian religious pilgrims from Pokhara, Nepal, towards Kathmandu when it plunged 650 feet into the Marsyangdi River on Friday.

A military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force on Saturday brought the bodies of 25 of the victims to Jalgaon in the Indian state of Maharashtra from Bharatpur in Nepal, the Press Trust of India reported .