*Families appeal MEA for repatriation of bodies
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 9: Five persons from Poonch and Rajouri districts were killed and one critically injured, in a tragic road accident in Kuwait last evening.
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Reports said that the mishap took place in the evening, on Road No. 6, at a small town- Saad Abdullah near Kuwait City. All the six were returning from the work in a vehicle. It was at around 6 pm (Local Time) when their vehicle collided with another vehicle on the busy highway and after strong collision their vehicle caught fire. Most of the workers could not come out of the vehicle and were reportedly charred to death on the spot. They were working in Kuwait for the past several years.
While one of the deceased is said to be a resident of Thanamandi in Rajouri distruct, four others hail from Surankote Sub Division of Poonch district. Their families have issued strong appeal to authorities in the Jammu and Kashmir and also to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Govt of India for the repatriation of the bodies.
The Deputy Commissioner, Poonch, Ashok Sharma while confirming the incident said that their families have approached the Sub Divisional and the District administrations and also appealed to the Union External Ministry for the repatriation of dead bodies of the deceased persons. The local Government at Kuwait or the Union Ministry of External Affairs will take the final decision in this regard, he added.
The victims, all reported to be laborers working in Kuwait, had traveled to the Gulf country to earn a livelihood for their families.
Sub Divisional Magistrate, Surankote, Farooq Khan Nazki , when contacted, said that the families of the deceased approached him after receiving information from the co-workers there hailing from Poonch and Rajouri.
They identified the deceased as -Fareed Ahmed, son of Mohd Sharief; Sarfraz Ahmed, son of Mohd Ashraf; Mohd Khaliq, son of Tasveer Hussain and Mukhtar Ahmed from Shiendara area of Surankote in Poonch district and Mumtaz Rashid, son of Mohd Rashid, a resident of Darra in Thannamandi, Rajouri. The seriously injured is said to be Mohd Naik hailing from Surankote area.
The incident has triggered grief across their native areas, particularly in Thanamandi and Surankote. The relatives and residents are mourning the loss of lives in the tragic road accidents. Most of the victims were the sole bread earners of their families.
Family members of the victims have urged the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha and the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to facilitate the return of the bodies at the earliest so that last rites could be performed at their home towns/villages.
Mohd Arif, a co-worker from Kuwait said that bodies of all of them were shifted to the Kuwait City Hospital for legal performing formalitiesby local police. He said workers hailing from Rajouri and Poonch in Kuwait are collecting money for facilitating the repatriation of the dead bodies. They have also approached the local authorities in Kuwait for ensuring repatriation of the bodies to India.
Locals from Jammu and Kashmir frequently migrate to Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait, in search of employment, particularly in labour jobs to support their families back home.
The family members of Mumtaz Rashid said that Rashid had gone to Kuwait nearly two years ago in search of work. Last evening, a tragic head-on collision involving two vehicles occurred on a ring road in Kuwait, resulting in the deaths of four youths from Poonch and one from Rajouri. He was returning from work along with his associates when he fell victim to this tragic road accident en-route.
Every eye in the village is moist with tears, and people are gathering to offer solace and support to the bereaved family. This tragic incident has cast a pall of gloom across the region.
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