Bhubaneswar: One of the three persons hit by a bus outside the lion safari at Nandankanan on January 3 succumbed to his injuries at a city hospital on Monday.

Family members of the deceased, Amiya Bharimal, demanded action against the zoo authorities along with adequate compensation.

Bharimal, who hails from Mahuria village in Khurda district, was undergoing treatment in the ICU of the private hospital. He, along with two others, Gyana Ranjan Mangaraj and Surya Prasad Mangaraj, who also hail from the same village, were walking near the giraffe enclosure of the zoo when the safari bus hit them. They suffered grievous injuries.

While Gyana and Surya were discharge after treatment, Bharimal was critical.

"He died because of the rash driving of the bus driver. It was negligence on the part of the zoo authorities that led to his death. The zoo authorities should be booked by the police and adequate compensation must be provided," said a relative of the deceased.

On the other hand, the zoo authorities said the safari bus drivers had been asked to extra cautious while driving inside the zoo.

"The incident took place due to the carelessness of the safari driver and we have asked the drivers to be careful to prevent such mishaps," said deputy director of the zoo, Jayant Dash.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased.

The Police also arrested the bus driver, Subash Chandra Sahu, 45, on Monday evening.

On November 19, around 40 tourists were stranded at the lion safari when their bus got stuck in a muddy patch in the middle of the safari.

The tourists were rescued only after the intervention of the safari authorities who had a tough time getting the lions inside their den and rescuing the tourists in another bus.