Kathmandu: The mortal remains of eight Indian tourists, including four minors who died of possible asphyxiation in their room at a mountain resort in Nepal, were flown back Thursday to their hometowns in Kerala, senior officials said here.
All formalities, including the post-mortem, were completed Wednesday night and the bodies were flown on two separate Air India flights from Kathmandu to New Delhi, according to sources at the Indian Embassy here.
The mortal remains of Praveen Krishnan Nair, his wife Saranya Sasi and their three children will be taken to Thiruvananthapuram from Delhi, and of Ranjith Kumar Adatholath Punathil, his wife Indu Lakshmi Peethambaran Ragalatha and their son to Kozhikode.
“This was a very tragic incident,” a senior Indian Embassy official said Sunday.
The victims were among a group of 15 tourists from Kerala who had checked into a resort in Daman, a popular tourist spot in Makawanpur district, some 70-km south of Kathmandu.
Their post-mortem was conducted at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital here Wednesday.
The tragedy occurred as the two-decade old resort does not have air conditioners, said Labsher Bista, the mayor of Thaha Municipality in the district.
Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has condoled the death of the Indians and said he was deeply shocked to learn about the incident. He offered heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families, government and people of India.
Meanwhile, Nepal’s Department of Tourism has formed a five-member committee to investigate whether there were any lapses in the safety of tourists by the resort administration. The committee is required to submit the report within 15 days.
Nair and Ranjit, both IT professionals, were engineering college classmates and the tour was arranged after a get-together with old friends in Delhi, a family member said.
PTI
