The body of Vijay Kumar, a 36-year-old from Uttarakhand who had been missing since the deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on February 6, was recovered from the debris of a hotel in Malatya, where he was on a business trip.
“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.
“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,” it added.
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, reported The Quint.
> Uttarakhand was a resident of Uttarakhand.
> His brother 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.
> Kumar and his wife Pinky Gaur have a 6-year-old son. His father Ramesh Chand Gaur had died of a cardiac arrest in December 2022, the news website reported.
> 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.
> After working for a Delhi-based company, Kumar turned to Oxyplant, Bengaluru over a year ago.
> Kumar’s family said the MEA had been trying to trace him since the earthquake struck the country.
Toll crosses 24,400
Rescuers in Turkey pulled more people from the rubble early on Saturday, five days after the country’s most devastating earthquake since 1939, but hopes were fading in Turkey and Syria that many more survivors would be found.
The growing death toll, exceeding 24,450 across southern Turkey and northwest Syria, raised questions over Turkey’s earthquake planning and response time, and President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that authorities should have reacted faster.
