Bodies of all Georgia tragedy victims reach Punjab, cremated

The bodies of all 11 Punjabis, who died in the gas leak incident in a Georgia restaurant on December 14, were cremated by their families at their respective native places in the state.

The bodies of Jalandhar-based Ravinder Kala, Patiala-based Amarinder, Moga-based Gagandeep and Mansa-based Maninder Kaur arrived at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar on Monday with the efforts of the Ministry of External Affairs. These were brought to Amritsar via three flights over the past two days.

Teams of Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust reached the airport on Tuesday to complete the official formalities. Family members of the victims had been called there. The NGO also arranged for ambulances to send the bodies of the victims to their respective places.

The body of Gagandeep Singh (24) of Ghal Kalan village in Moga was cremated in the presence of his family members. His father Gurmukh Singh had reached the Amritsar airport to identify the body. Gagandeep had left for Georgia four month ago after raising a loan of Rs 4 lakh. “On December 12, I had a word with my son and enquired about his wellbeing,” said Gurmukh Singh.

Family members of Jalandhar-based Ravinder Kala performed his last rites at the Kot Ramdas cremation ground on Wednesday. Amarjot Singh, Jalandhar-based activist of the charitable trust, attended his cremation and shared his grief with the family. Kala had not seen his family for the past seven years.

The body of Sandeep Singh (35) of Jaswant Singh Mohalla in Tarn Taran was cremated at the Sachkhand road cremation ground on Wednesday. The body reached Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport on Tuesday and activists of Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust brought it to the residence of the deceased last night. The pyre was lit by deceased’s father Balwant Singh. Sandeep is survived by his widow Baljit Kaur, eight-year-old daughter and father.