BENGALURU: The lone Indian who was reported missing after devastating earthquakes struck Turkiye on February 6, was found dead on Saturday. His body was found beneath the rubble of the hotel he was staying at in Malatya in Turkiye’s eastern Anatolia region.
Thirty-six-year-old Vijay Kumar was a technician working for Bengaluru-based Oxyplants India Pvt Ltd. Kumar, who was from Lansdowne in Uttarakhand, arrived in Turkiye on January 25 to take up an assignment for his employer to install and commission an acetylene gas plant.
He was due to leave in mid-February. His belongings, including his baggage and ID card, were found beneath the rubble of Hotal Avsar, where he was staying, on Friday. Kumar was identified by his family members based on photos sent by the rescue team.
Kumar’s family members are struggling to come to terms with his death. “We were all expecting him to return from Turkiye soon. The last call from him was to his wife and family at 10 pm on February 6. The family has suffered a series of losses, as it was only in December 2022 that Kumar’s father passed away,” a family member, Gaurav Kala, told this newspaper.
The body may reach India by Monday
The body may arrive in Istanbul on Sunday and could reach New Delhi by Monday morning, Oxyplants India MD Ramesh Siddappa said