Vijay Kumar Gaud, the Indian national whose body was recovered from the rubble of a hotel in Malatya where he was staying when the massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, was identified by rescuers with a tattoo of the word “Om” on one of his hands, news agency PTI reported.
Vijay Kumar, who hailed from Uttarakhand’s Pauri district and was working for a Bengaluru-based company, had gone to Turkey on an official assignment.
Reports indicate that his face was crushed beyond recognition. His clothes had been found on Friday.
“We inform with sorrow that the mortal remains of Shri Vijay Kumar, an Indian national missing in Turkiye since February 6 earthquake, have been found and identified among the debris of a hotel in Malatya, where he was on a business trip,” the Indian embassy in Ankara tweeted.
Gaud’s wife and son, who were hoping against hope for some positive news, were inconsolable as their worst fears had come true. Friends and relatives flocked to Gaud’s house to express their condolences to the bereaved family.
His body will first be flown to Istanbul and then taken to Delhi. It may take three days for his body to reach Kotdwar, PTI reported citing family sources.
“Our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. We are making arrangements for the earliest possible transportation of his mortal remains to his family,” the embassy said on Twitter.
Who was Vijay Kumar?
> Kumar, a technician for a gas-plant company, Oxyplant India Pvt Ltd, in Bengaluru, had gone to Turkey on January 25 and was staying at Avsar Hostel, Malatya.
> “His phone rings but no one responds,” his elder brother Arun Kumar Gaud had told PTI after his brother went missing.
> His wife and six-year-old son had last talked to him on the phone on February 5 and he was to return to India on February 20.
> Arun Kumar, who is based in Pauri Garwahl of Uttarakhand, had earlier told The Quint that they used to talk on the phone each night since he left for Turkey, but on Sunday night (February 6 early morning), his call did not come. The next day, the family got to know that an earthquake had hit Turkey and Syria.
> His father Ramesh Chand Gaur died of a cardiac arrest in December 2022.
> Kumar was deputed to Turkey for the installation and commissioning of an acetylene gas plant in Malatya. He secured his passport and got his visa on January 17, The Quint reported.
> After working for a Delhi-based company, Kumar turned to Oxyplant, Bengaluru over a year ago.
Death toll crosses 25,000
Meanwhile, rescue crews pulled more survivors, including entire families, from toppled buildings despite diminishing hopes as the death toll of the enormous quake that struck a border region of Turkey and Syria five days ago surpassed 25,000.
Dramatic rescues were being broadcast on Turkish television, including the rescue of the Narli family in central Kahramanmaras 133 hours after the quake struck early Monday. First, 12-year-old Nehir Naz Narli was saved, then both of her parents.
(With inputs from agencies)
