Now, brother to take victim’s ashes to Nepal

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 24

Little did Dhan Bahadur knew that he would not be able to visit his family in Nepal ever again. The 35-year-old worker at the plastic manufacturing factory that caught fire and collapsed on Monday had returned to work just two weeks ago after spending some time with his family at his native village — Sakot in district Accham of Nepal.

He was cremated in Ludhiana, but now, his ashes and some soil from the site would be taken to Nepal to perform the final rituals for the peace of the departed soul.

Deceased’s brother Hasiya Bahadur came to collect some soil from the collapsed factory site today, where his brother breathed last. Dhan Bahadur was among the 13 persons, whose bodies have been extracted from the collapsed building site near Suffian Chowk so far.

Dhan Bahadur has left behind his wife and five children. His wife and three children used to live at his village, while he used to stay at a room inside the plastic manufacturing factory with his two sons.

It is learnt that when the fire broke out at the factory on Monday, Dhan Bahadur had safely taken his sons out of the factory. Unfortunately, he went inside the the factory again. His two sons — 8 and 5-year-old — were seen waiting for him near the factory when it collapsed after catching fire.

Hasiya Bahadur said: “My brother came to Ludhiana from Nepal around 20 years ago to earn a livelihood. He started working at the residence of the factory owner. Me and my brother were working at the same plastic manufacturing factory for the past some years. We both went to Nepal last month to attend a religious ceremony. My brother came back to Ludhiana just two weeks ago. I came two days ago, when someone informed me about the incident at the factory site.”

“We cremated him in Ludhiana and I have come to collect some soil from the collapsed factory site, where my brother died. Now, I will take this soil and his ashes to our home in Nepal so that we can perform the last rituals for the peace of the departed soul. In our community, it is a ritual to collect soil from the site, where a person takes the last breath,” said Hasiya.

He said Dhan Bahadur was the lone breadwinner in the family. “We want the government to provide financial aid to his family members and a job,” he said.

A plastic manufacturing factory near Suffian Chowk caught fire on November 20 and collapsed around 12 pm. A total of five factory employees including Dhan Bahadur, Sandeep Singh, Amarjot Singh, Ghaniya and Baldev Raj have lost their lives in the incident. However, it is still unclear how many factory employees and labourers were inside when the building collapsed.