All four Indians killed in Nepal avalanche identified

The Indian embassy in Kathmandu Tuesday said that four Indians were confirmed dead and one was missing in Nepal's snowstorm and avalanche. Twenty one others had been rescued.

All the four dead Indians have been identified.

Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs also confirmed that the bodies of 33 foreign and Nepali nationals have been recovered so far of whom four were Indians, four were Israelis, three Polish, two Slovaks and one Chinese and one Japanese. The identity of one foreigner is yet to be ascertained.

The authorities retrieved the bodies of Sunil Sen and Indranil Ghosh, both from West Bengal, and transported them to Government Hospital (Teaching Hospital) in Kathmandu Oct 20, the embassy said in a public notice.

The embassy is in touch with the family members and associates of both Sen and Ghosh to facilitate the transportation of their bodies to India.

On Oct 17, the body of Arup Roychowdhury was identified by Sumit Mukherjee who was a member of the trekking group. Arup Roychowdhury's brother Anup Roychowdhury came to Nepal and claimed the body, the embassy said

The body of Debashish Dey, also from West Bengal, has been retrieved. However, the mission is not yet aware of the contact details of family members of Dey, it said.

Any contact number or details about Dey that would help the embassy in finding the relatives of Dey would be appreciated, said an official.

Dey is 53 years of age and an activist with the Save Trees movement, and ordinarily a resident of Kolkata, West Bengal, said the embassy.

In addition, the names of some more Indian nationals, including that of Sudip Maitra, Chiranjit Ghosal, Amit Ghosh, Sudipta Ghosh and Mainak Pal, have come to the embassy's notice with the request to ascertain their whereabouts. However, according to the latest information, Sudip Maitra, Amit Ghosh and Sudipta Ghosh have been traced and they have since established contact with their families.

In addition to them, the following Indian nationals have also been traced: Bhaskar Raut, Kartik Halder, Subrata Bhowmik and Barun Kanti Goswami. All of them are on their way to Kolkata, West Bengal.

The whereabouts of Tathagata Jana are still unknown and the embassy is continuing its efforts to trace him.

(Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com)