Venkatachalam, 27, of V. Kottapady village in Karaikal district, has been killed in a fire accident at a ceramic factory caused by a LPG tanker blast in Sudan. His family was informed of his death by the Sudanese Embassy in New Delhi on Thursday.
Venkatachalam joined the factory as a technician based on his ITI qualification and work experience in a ceramic unit in Karaikal in September.
His parents were initially led to believe that he was alive and they received a 23-second audio clip of his conversation with a co-worker from Tamil Nadu. In the clip, Venkatachalam seeks the help of a co-worker over phone.
But he was reportedly shifted to one of the hospitals before his friend could reach the spot. “We believed till Thursday that Venkatachalam survived the blast, till we got the information of his death,” Sarathkumar, 28, cousin of Venkatachalam, said.
The family has learnt that all the bodies of the victims belonging to Tamil Nadu will be flown in next week. “We earnestly hope that the Sudanese administration will work during the weekly holidays on Saturday and Sunday in view of the emergency situation faced by us,” Mr. Sarathkumar said.
Meanwhile, hopes started receding for family members of Ramakrishnan, 26, of Alangudicheri near Thittacheri in Nagapattinam district, who was in the factory at the time of the blast. Ramakrishnan held a diploma in mechanical engineering and was also a technician at the factory.
The family had received an audio clip from a co-worker on Thursday conveying that Ramakrishnan died in the blast. The family members are in a state of grief and are hoping to get the body at the earliest.
“There are some reliable indications pointing to the death of my brother in the blast. Our family is devastated. But we have not received any information officially from the Sudanese Embassy,” Ramakrishnan’s sister Tilaka, who is a Deputy Tahsildar in Nagapattinam Collectorate, said.
