Gulmohar trip turned to be fatal for Delhi family

A plan for a summer vacation in the cooler climes of Jammu and Kashmir's Gulmarg happened to be be fatal for Pusa Institute of Technology lecturer Jayant Andraskar, his wife and two daughters as they plunged to their deaths when a tree uprooted by strong winds sent their cable car cabin hurtling hundreds of metres down.

Andraskar, who living with his wife Manshea and daughters Janvi, 6, and Anagha, 4, since 2013 in B2-209 flat, an administration staff quarters at Shalimar Bagh in north Delhi, was described as friendly and outgoing by his neighbours and associates.

"Andraskar was very friendly and used to join us in social gatherings, cultural programmes and residents welfare meetings in the society. He told us that since it was his daughter's summer vacation, he had planned a trip to Gulmarg. They had left on Friday evening," the staff quarters RWA president Rajesh Kumar Sangwan told IANS.

Sangwan said that Andraskar worked as a lecturer with civil department in Pusa Institute of Technology and they used to see his minor daughters playing in society's park.

"Andraskar, who hailed from Nagpur, used to visit the park and participate in social welfare works of the society. The whole small family was happy when they were leaving for their holiday but we could not know they would not return," he added.

All members of the family, along with three others, identified as Mukhtar Ahmed Ganie, Javed Ahmed Khandey and Farooq Ahmed and believed to be tourist guides, when their cable car crashed in the Gulmarg resort following strong winds.

--IANS

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