Missing Indian in Turkey is dead

AN INDIAN national missing in Turkey since the massive earthquake last Monday (6) was found dead last Saturday (11) in the rubble of a hotel where he was staying.

Vijay Kumar Gaud, from Uttarakhand’s Pauri district and who worked for a Bangalorebased company, was in Turkey on a work visit.

Gaud was identified with a tattoo of the word “Om” on one of his hands, Indian embassy officials quoted his family as saying in Uttarakhand.

“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 Turkey tweeted.

Gaud is survived by a wife and son. His body was scheduled to first be flown to Istanbul and later, Delhi. It may take three days for his body to reach Kotdwar in Uttarakhand, family sources said, quoting Indian embassy officials.

“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.

Gaud worked for Oxy Plant India Pvt Ltd and was on an official assignment, according to his elder brother Arun Kumar Gaud. 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 next Monday (20).

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said last Wednesday (8) that an Indian was missing and 10 others were stuck, but safe in remote regions.

The number of Indians residing in Turkey is around 3,000, of whom about 1,800 live in and around Istanbul, 250 are in Ankara and the rest are spread all across the country, according to officials.