8 Kerala Tourists Suffocate in Nepal Resort: Here’s What We Know
Eight Indians, including 4 kids, died after they fell unconscious due to a possible gas leak in a resort in Nepal.
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What was meant to be a vacation to Nepal for two friends turned into a tragedy. Praveen Nair, 39, with his close friend Renjith Kumar TB, had planned a vacation. He’d taken a break from work in Dubai, sources said, and the two families with a few other friends and their families, had made a stop at Everest Panorama Resort in Makwanpur district. In total, 15 people were travelling to Pokhara to take a flight back to India.
The two couples were staying in one large room. After checking in, they retired for the night. On the morning of Tuesday, 21 January, when they didn’t leave the room, others grew suspicious and raised alarm. The hotel authorities, as per sources, used a duplicate key to get into the room.
It was then that the eight of them, including four children, were found unconscious and later declared dead.
39-year-old Praveen Nair, his wife, 34-year-old Saranya died along with their three kids, Sreebhadra, Aarcha and Abhi Nair.
They hailed from Chenkottukonam near Chempazhanthi in Thiruvananthapuram.
Nair had completed his Executive MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, in 2019. He earlier studied at SCT College of Engineering in Thiruvanthapuram.
Saranya was a homemaker hailing from Kalluvathukkal in Kollam. She had graduated from College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trivandrum, in 2009. The family was earlier living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Two years ago, Saranya and the kids moved to Kochi as she wanted to do her Masters in Pharmacy from Amritha Institute in Kochi.
Nair and his family had visited his parents’ home in Sreekaryam in Thiruvananthapuram during Onam in 2019 and the family had to visit them again at the end of January for a festival in the nearby Ayyankoyikkal Lord Ayyappa temple, reported The News Minute.
Neighbours and relatives cited that Nair’s parents were informed of the accident but not of their death as they are heart patients. It was several hours later that relatives and friends gathered the courage to tell them the tragic truth. They initially were waiting for the formalities to be completed so that the bodies of the deceased can be brought back to their hometown. Even local Malayalam channels said they did not want to disturb them.
Nair was quite popular in the neighbourhood and was the president of Ayyankoyikkal Residents’ Association. He was known for his philanthropy and was an active participant in all the local festivals, stated the media report.
39-year-old Renjith Kumar TB and his family hailed from Kunnamangalam in Kozhikode. He was with his wife, 34-year-old Indu Renjith, and their two-year-old son Vaishnav Renjith. The couple’s other son, Madhav, was spared since he was sleeping in a different room.
The tourists reportedly died due to suffocation after they used a gas heater in their hotel room. Their bodies have been taken to the hospital for postmortem and will then be brought to their hometown.
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