Agartala, Dec 18 : The Tripura government on Thursday announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 25.16 lakh to the families of the victims of a brick kiln chimney collapse in which five workers were killed and three others injured.

A district administration official said that the tragic incident occurred on Wednesday at Kamalpur in northern Tripuraâ??s Dhalai district, when a brick kiln chimney collapsed, killing five workers and injuring three others.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, in a post on social media on Thursday, said that the District Administration, Dhalai, has sanctioned Rs 25.16 lakh as ex-gratia assistance for the families affected by the tragic fire at Aparashkar Brick Factory, Nakful (Kamalpur).

â??Rs 4 lakh each has been approved for the families of the deceased, along with financial aid for the critically and less critically injured from SDRF funds. We stand firmly with the bereaved families and injured persons, ensuring timely relief and assistance during this difficult period,â?? he said.

The five deceased, three of them died on the spot, were identified as Subal Debnath (55), Pinku Shil (37), Sajal Malakar (40) and Bidhu Sharma (45), all are residents of Tripura and Anil Gautam (49), a resident of Uttar Pradesh.

Of the three injured, one is a resident of Jharkhand. Two of the injured workers were later shifted to the government-run Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital in Agartala for better medical treatment.

Soon after the incident, personnel of the Fire and Emergency Services and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), along with residents, recovered the bodies of the deceased and rescued the injured, who were taken to nearby hospitals.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and many leaders of different political parties condoled the deaths and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

The owner of the brick kiln, Souvik Paul, and his Manager, Amit Deb, were arrested by the police and are now in police custody.

Dhalai District Superintendent of Police Mihir Lal Das and local BJP MLA Manoj Kanti Deb visited the area and supervised the rescue operations.

/IANS