KOCHI: A father who lost his son, a man mourning the death of his brother, and a group of youngsters waiting to receive the body of their dearest friend. A woman holding a newborn, breaking into tears looking lost, while another group discussing funeral arrangements back home somewhere in north Kerala.
The Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery in Kochi turned into a huge gathering of mourners as hundreds of people from across Kerala converged at the airport terminal on Friday to receive the mortal remains of 31 expatriate workers who died in the Kuwait building fire. The mortal remains -- 23 Keralites, seven from Tamil Nadu and one from Karnataka -- were brought in a special India Air Force aircraft even as thirty ambulances were lined up outside the cargo terminal of the Kochi airport to take them to various destinations -- Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Malappuram.
Tables with white clothes were arranged with names and photographs of the deceased people printed over it -- the airport terminal resembled a huge funeral ground with thousands in attendance from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to Union Minister Suresh Gopi and most of the state cabinet ministers.
Keezhvaipur, Pathanamthitta native Babu was inconsolable as he waited at the airport to receive the body of his son Cibin Abraham. This is the third death in the family in recent months. He lost his wife Alice to cancer only a few months ago, and his mother-in-law passed away in January. Cibin was working in the same company where Babu worked for 18 years, before he returned to Kerala in 2022. "I was also working with the same company and stayed near this building. A few Tamil Nadu natives who passed away in the accident were my friends then. This incident was unexpected, and I didn't know I would lose my son and friends, all at the same time," said Babu.
Cibin (32) had returned to Kuwait in February after the baptism of his daughter Irene. He leaves behind wife Anjumol with whom he had talked over the phone only about 30 minutes before the fire broke out in the building on Wednesday. A large number of people, including a priest from his church and other parishioners were present at the airport to receive Cibin's body.
Pathanamthitta native Princy and her husband came to receive the remains of two people -- Mathew Thomas aka Biju (53) and their relative Shibu Varghese (38). "Both of them were working in the same company and were staying together. We were shocked when we heard the news of their demise. Some of our relatives are still in Kuwait and they are safe. As there are arrangements to be made at home, only my husband and I could come here," said Princy, holding back her tears. She had arrived at the airport early in the morning to receive the mortal remains. "The body of my chettan (elder brother) and his relative will be officially received at the Pushpagiri Hospital in Tiruvalla, and will be kept in mortuary," she said.
Akash S Nair (31) at native of Panthalam, who died in the inferno, was planning to come home next month to visit his mother, and to look at some marriage proposals. His cousin Anil Kumar, who was at the airport to receive his body, said initially the family did not give much importance when the news broke out about the fire in the building that housed the labour camp. Later, one of his friends sent a message that Akash was staying in the same building. Though we tried to contact him, we couldn't. Later, on Thursday evening, we came to know that he was one of the deceased in the fire," he said. "We were eager to meet him. But we never expected his arrival would be like this. His mother was staying alone at home, and couldn't believe that the 50-year-old woman would live alone for the rest of her life."
Relatives and friends of U Shameer of Kollam were in distress as they waited for his mortal remains to arrive. Shameer had left for Kuwait only five years ago. "The funeral will be held today (Friday) itself after a public viewing in his native place in Thamarakulam," said Safed, his cousin.
The IAF aircraft, carrying the remaining 14 bodies, left for Delhi around 1 pm. “The body of Karnataka native, Vijayakumar Prasanna, was flown to Hyderabad in another flight, from where the mortal remains were taken to his native place Kalaburagi by 8.50 pm,” said Ernakulam district collector N S K Umesh.
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