Bodies of eight Kerala tourists to be brought back tomorrow from Nepal: Tourism Minister

Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran on Tuesday said that the bodies of eight tourists who were found dead in Nepal are expected to be brought back on Wednesday.

"As soon as the shocking news of the death of eight tourists from Kerala in a hotel room in Nepal's Daman reached us, the state police chief was instructed to contact the Nepal police and take necessary action. The bodies are expected to be brought back tomorrow," Surendran said at a press conference here.

"On the direction of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, NORKA (Non Resident Keralites Affairs) officials have also contacted the Indian embassy in Nepal to return the bodies at the earliest after conducting the procedures related to their autopsy," he said.

The Indian Ambassador to Nepal and a doctor from India had been to the hospital in Kathmandu.

Surendran said he had spoken with Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan over the telephone and was assured of necessary interventions.

He expressed condolences to the families of the deceased.

The eight tourists died on Tuesday in a hotel room of a resort in Daman in Nepal.

"We are yet to identify the name of the deceased. They were using a gas heater in the room, suffocation might have caused their death," said SP Sushil Singh Rathore of District Police Office in Nepal's Makwanpur.