7 of family wiped out in an instant

Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, October 20

Seven members of an extended migrant family were killed in an instant when the DMU mowed down Dasehra revellers on the city outskirts yesterday.

UP-based labourer Dinesh, who resides in New Preet Nagar, a 10-minute walk from the site, and six other members of his family were killed in the accident.

Dinesh’s wife Preeti had called her sister over from Sultanpur in UP and they were planning to visit Vaishno Devi after Dasehra for the “mundan” (tonsuring) ceremony of her nine-month-old nephew Vishal.

But tragedy befell the family, snuffing out the lives of Preeti’s mother, sister, brother-in-law Budh Ram, their children Vishal and daughter Sarojini, all of whom had arrived just two days back. Preeti, who along with son Aaroosh was receiving treatment at the hospital, lost her husband Dinesh and nine-year-old son Abhishek.

“They were all so excited to watch the celebrations and were dressed for the occasion. They were walking ahead of the two survivors when tragedy struck. It is hard to believe that seven of the nine who left home will never return. All five visiting from UP died,” says Sonia, Dinesh’s cousin.

Preeti’s neighbour Ashok Kumar recalls: “We saw Abhishek, dressed as Hanuman, play around with a snake charmer in the morning. I can’t get his playful image out of my mind.”

Woman, daughter, daughter-in-law, niece killed 

Four members of a Dashmesh Nagar family — Nirmala, her daughter Nitu (25), pregnant daughter-in-law Karamjot (23) and niece Kusum (20) — died in the Amritsar tragedy. They had gone together to attend the Dasehra event. Kusum’s father is a plumber, while Karamjot’s husband works as a tailor. TNS