Death of tourists: Kerala CM seeks compensation from Nepal

Service providers, Kathmandu should take responsibility for faulty service, he says

January 26, 2020 09:16 pm | Updated 09:19 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. File

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. File

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday requested the Centre to persuade Nepal to compensate the kin of eight Keralites who died due to suspected carbon monoxide poisoning from a malfunctioning heater in a hotel room at Kathmandu last week.

In a letter to Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar, Mr. Vijayan said prima facie evidence suggested that negligence on the part of service providers and failure of the Nepal government’s regulatory mechanisms had caused the untimely deaths.

Mr. Vijayan hoped the Centre would convince Nepal to investigate the tragedy so that the shocked and traumatised families of the victims would get closure.

Earlier, Mr. Vijayan visited the house of Praveen, 39, at Chenkottukonam here. Praveen, his wife Saranya, 34, and their children Sreebhadra, 9, Aarcha, 8, and Abhinav, 7, died in their sleep in the hotel room.

Mr. Vijayan spent almost an hour at the house consoling Praveen’s father Krishnan Nair and mother Prasanna. Thiruvananthapuram Mayor K. Sreekumar accompanied Mr. Vijayan. He also paid homage at the spot where the family members were interred.

Praveen’s friend Renjith Kumar, 39, who hailed from Kunnamangalam in Kozhikode, his wife Indu, 34, and their two-year-old son Vaishnav also died in the “accidental carbon monoxide” poisoning.

By some accounts, the two families had huddled together for warmth in Renjith’s room. They were part of a 15-member group who were in Nepal for on a pleasure trip.

Renjith’s son escaped death by sleeping in another room occupied by the group. Praveen and his family had moved into Renjith’s room after their heater failed and children complained of extreme cold.

The State government has sought copies of the post-mortem reports finalised by forensic doctors at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu. It has also urged the Centre to request copies of the scene reports filed by the Nepal police.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.