BAHAWALPUR: The heirs of 29 victims of the Ahmedpur Sharqia oil tanker explosion are involved in litigation among themselves to claim the government’s compensation worth Rs2m each, says Bahawalpur Deputy Commissioner Rana Muhammad Saleem Afzal.

The litigation is going on due to various reasons, including divorce, pending cases of dissolution of marriage and other family feuds.

Mr Afzal said compensation cheques would be delivered to the families of 29 victims after the court verdict on declaration of legal heirs or settlement of the cases.

He said the payment of compensation amount to the families of the remaining 20 unidentified victims would be made after the receipt of the DNA test results.

The DC said that out of total 221 victims, the legal families of 172 identified victims had been paid the compensation amount of Rs2m each, 57 injured were paid Rs1m each while 49 victims, including 20 unidentified, were yet to be paid.

Meanwhile, in a handout, the DC rejected the media reports that the compensation cheques given to the victims’ families had bounced, saying the reports were based on some misunderstanding.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2017