Indian student Nikhil Bhatia's family in state of shock

The family of Nikhil Bhatia, an Indian student at the Texas A&M University who suffered grevious injuries while out swimming just as Hurricane Harvey struck and died in a hospital in Houston early this morning, is in a state of shock, a close family member said.

Bhatia, who hailed from Jaipur, died in the hospital's ICU, where he was admitted after being closely saved from drowning.

"We came to know about it early in the morning at around 4.50-5 a.m.," the family member told IANS.

"You can very well understand how the family must be feeling after hearing this news. Mother is all alone there in the US and father is here. He was the only child....for thr last two days we have been hearing different news about him. We were all praying and hoping that he will survive," she added.

Bhatia, who was studying for a masters in Public Health, and another Indian student, Shalini Singh were swimming in Lake Bryan when a sudden current trigerred by the hurricane pulled them to the deeper end. Other students alerted the police and both were pulled out and rushed them to hospital in a critical condition.

Singh continues to battle for life in the ICU.

--IANS

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