THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When news finally arrived that Arun Babu, a 37-year-old from Kuriyathi in Nedumangad, Thiruvananthapuram, had gone missing following a massive fire in Kuwait, his family hoped against hope that he might have ended up in one of the hospitals injured. But their belief was dashed when official confirmation reached them on Thursday afternoon that he had succumbed to his injuries.
Arun, a shop admin-cum-purchaser with the NBTC group, had arrived for his second stint in Kuwait just eight months back. It was his mother’s younger sister, M S Sheeja, who helped him get the job visa.
Prior to the pandemic, Arun had worked in Kuwait for eight years. Arun last spoke to his family on Tuesday. Son of the late Babu Madhavan Pillai and Ajitha Kumari, Arun worked as a labourer on his return to Thiruvananthapuram. When TNIE contacted Ajitha, she was expecting good news. But within a gap of five hours, the dreaded news arrived, pushing the family into deep shock. Arun is also survived by wife Vineetha P Vijay, a homemaker, and two daughters, ninth-grader Ashtami and three-year-old Ameya.