Authorities of northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region announced Wednesday that they would provide medical aid and relief for bereaved families and people who became handicapped as a result of the July 5 riot that left 197 dead in the regional capital.

Officials with the regional civil affairs department and the Xinjiang branch of China Charity Federation said Wednesday that incapacitated victims of the riot who are low-income earners or receive subsistence allowances, should be granted lump-sum medical aid at the annual ceiling of aid for major diseases, which was set at 8,000 yuan (1,171 U.S. dollars).

According to Xiao Jun, the publicity head of the civil affairs department, the injured victims and families of the deceased, who meet the requirements of subsistence allowances for low-income earners, should be provided with full allowances of 156 yuan per month.

Earlier reports said bereaved families would get 420,000 yuan in compensation for each fatality. Donations for the victims have exceeded 270 million yuan.

The violence in Urumqi on July 5 had left 197 people dead and more than 1,600 injured. Houses of 633 families were damaged and 627 vehicles were smashed and torched.

(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2009)