NEW DELHI: The whereabouts of the only missing Indian national who had visited earthquake-hit Turkey remains unknown.
The individual identified as 36-year-old Vijay Kumar, an engineer hailing from Landsdowne, Uttarakhand, and works for Bengaluru-based firm Oxyplants India.
According to sources, "The hotel he was booked in had collapsed during the earthquake. There has been no update on him yet. It is possible that he wasn’t in the hotel when the building came crumbling down, or was probably injured and is in hospital. The Indian government is working on getting more updates on him," say sources.
Vijay had reached Turkey on Jan 23 and was on a month-long official trip. He was working on a project for a gas supply company. He had last spoken with his family on Sunday.
His family is in touch with the Indian Embassy in Turkey but there is no update on him yet. Vijay’s wife and six-year-old son live in Dehradun.
Rescue operations are proving difficult as the hotel where he was staying in is close to a petrol pump so rescue operations are challenging.
Earlier, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary, Sanjay Verma had said that they were in touch with Vijay’s family and also his firm in Bangalore.
Around 10 Indian nationals were stuck in different parts of the country due to the breakdown of services but they were all reported to be in a safe zone.
Meanwhile, over 22,000 people have been killed and thousands injured after the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday. Rescue workers are racing against time to pull survivors out of the rubble.
India has sent NDRF teams to Turkey. Around 250 personnel specialised equipment and other relief materials weighing 135 tonnes have been sent to Turkey in five aircraft sorties. One aircraft with six tonnes of relief supplies has been sent to Syria.
So far, India's NDRF troops have rescued and treated 106 people at their field hospital in the Turkish city of Iskenderun.