Kerala mourns the death of eight in Nepal resort tragedy

Renjith and his wife Indu, who died with their younger son in the tragedy

Tragedy struck a group of 15 tourists from Kerala in Nepal, when eight of them, including four children, died after they fell unconscious, probably due to a gas leak from a heater in their room at a resort in Daman, amidst a cold wave in the Himalayan region on Tuesday.

The deceased were identified as Praveen Krishnan Nair, Saranya Sasi, Sreebhadra Praveen, Aarcha Praveen, Abhinav Saranya Nair, Renjith Kumar Adatholath Punathil, Indu Lakshmi Peethambaran Ragalatha and Vaishnav Renjith.

"In February Vaishnav would have turned two and the family would have shifted to their new house, which is almost complete," said Sandeep, cousin of Indu Renjith, 34. Indu, her husband Renjith, and child Vaishnav were in the room where the gas leaked. Their elder son, was sleeping in the other room, and escaped. Indu worked with a bank in Elathur.

"Renjith, a software engineer, was to set up a software company with a colleague," said Sandeep. He said their older son Madhav will be handed to Indu's brother-in-law. "We haven't informed her parents yet," he said.

The other family which died is Praveen Nair, 39, and his wife Saranya, 34, with their kids Sreebhadra, 9, Aarcha, 8, and Abhi, 7. Praveen was a friend of Renjith and they planned the tour together. Hari Krishnan, CEO, Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs, said, "The autopsies are on Wednesday. We expect to get the coffins by Thursday, Praveen's family stayed in Thiruvananthapuram, and Renjith's family was from Calicut. We will ensure the coffins reach the respective airports from where they will be taken to their families."

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