Bodies of Bahrain fire victims arrive in TN

Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, Aug 2: Wails and cries rent the air in 11 villages in Cuddalore, Villupuram and Perambalur districts of Tamil Nadu as the bodies of 16 construction workers, who perished in the Bahrain fire mishap, arrived today.

Heart-rending scenes were witnessed in the villages as grief stricken family members and relatives of the victims burst into wails and cried as the bodies, brought in ambulances, were handed over to them.

Sethurayan Kuppam, which lost three of its residents -- Raja, Rajavelu and Balusamy -- presented a pathetic picture as all the 500 families in the village turned up to share the grief with the bereaved.

At Varanjaram village in Villupuram district, Ramachandran, a plus two student and son of Subramanian, one of the victims, wailed saying his father had spoken to him on the previous day and advised him to study well.

''My father wanted to speak to my mother, but she was away. He asked me to study well and take care of the family..I never thought I will receive the body of my father,'' he cried.

While the siblings wept inconsolably, mothers and wives wailed beating their chests and the scenes were similar in all the ten villages in Cuddalore and Villupuram districts and one village in neighbouring Perambalur district.

Most of the victims were either illiterates or semi-literates who had gone to Bahrain for employment in construction work after borrowing money from local money lenders or disposing their property.

The seven who hailed from Cuddalore District were M Rajavelu, D Raja, Balusamy, S Muthiayan, P Rajarathinam, N Chinnadurai and D Sivaprakasam while D Poomalai, P Muthuvel, S Senthil, K Kannadasan, A Palanimuthu, T Kumar, M Subramanian and C Shankar belonged to Villupuram District. R Ramachandran belonged to Perambalur district.

Following reports that moneylenders had started exerting pressure on the victims' families to part with the Rs two lakh solatium announced by the state government, the district administration warned of stern action if they troubled the bereaved.

Earlier, Union Minister of State for Law and Justice K Venkatapathy, Tamil Nadu Ministers K Ponmudi, M R K Panneerselvam and T M Anbarasan and senior Congress leader Kumari Anandan received the bodies when they arrived at the Chennai Airport.

Relatives of the deceased, representatives of various political parties, organisations of building workers and top Revenue and police officials were also present at the airport.

The Ministers placed wreaths on the bodies and offered condolences on behalf of the state government. Later Mr Venkatapathy accompanied the bodies to Villupuram where they were received by District Collector and Superintendent of Police.

Thanking Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for announcing a 'timely relief' of Rs two lakh each to the families, the Union Minister said he had taken up the matter of payment of salary dues, terminal benefits and other payments due to the victims from their employers in Bahrain, through the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.

Palanimuthu (37) of Melakuruchi in Villupuram district is survived by two wives and three children. The villagers were moved to tears as the women, who had lost their sole breadwinner, wailed, beating their chests. Two other victims -- Senthil and Kannadasan -- of Koothakudi in Cuddalore were illetrate and had gone to Bahrain to make some quick money after borrowing a huge sum.

Kannadasan was a shepherd who wanted to earn money so that he could repay the loan taken to meet the marriage expenditure of his sisters Mani and Santhi.

He had sold all his goats to pay the commission agent and buy the tickets to Bahrain, Ms Santhi said amid tears.

''My brother had gone to earn money to repay our marriage debts after selling the goats...now I have lost my brother as well the goats,'' she said.

DMK legislator Thirunavukkarasu, representing Ulunthurpet constituency from which ten of those killed hailed, also visited the bereaved. He offered his condolences and assured all help to the families.

Almost all the ten villages, bordering Cuddalore and Villupuram districts, had only fallow lands and the cultivation purely depended on rainfall. The villages lacked basic amenities.

UNI