CUDDALORE/VILLUPURAM: The bodies of two men who died in the Kuwait fire tragedy were brought to their native villages near Kattumannarkoil and Gingee, and cremated after rituals.
It was on Wednesday, a fire broke out in a multi-storied labour camp at Mangaf city in Kuwait, killing nearly 50 people. K Chinnadurai (42) from Muttam village near Kattumannarkoil in Cuddalore district was working as a storekeeper in an oil company in Kuwait and used to stay in this labour camp. Chinnadurai had been working in Kuwait for over ten years and had returned to his village last year. He went back to Kuwait a couple of months ago and was planning to return to the village in two or three weeks, according to his relatives.
Family members were unable to contact Chinnadurai on Wednesday and on Thursday, they received information that he had died in the fire. His body, along with other deceased people from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, was brought to Kochi. On behalf of the Tamil Nadu Government, Minister Gingee K Masthan received the bodies of victims from Tamil Nadu. The bodies were then sent to their native places by ambulance.
Chinnadurai’s body reached his home on Friday midnight. Chidambaram taluk revenue department officials handed it over to his family members. On Saturday morning, final rituals were performed, and he was cremated in the afternoon.
Cuddalore District Collector A Arun Thamburaj, Superintendent of Police R Rajaram, Chidambaram Sub-Collector Rashmi Rani, and other officials paid homage to Chinnadurai. He was survived by his wife C Sathya.
Similarly, the body of Muhammad Sherif (35), another victim of the same incident, was brought to his home in Krishnapuram near Gingee in Villupuram district on Friday midnight. After the final rituals, he was laid to rest.
Revenue department officials from the Gingee taluk office paid homage to Sherif’s body on behalf of the Government of Tamil Nadu.