Grief in Kerala as two doctors found dead in Nepal

Thiruvananthapuram, April 28
A day after they were declared safe, two young doctors from Kerala holidaying in Nepal were on Monday said to be dead, leading to grief in the state.

Government sources said that the relatives of the two doctors - A.S.Ershad and Deepak Thomas - have identified their bodies, after they were reported missing in massive earthquake on Saturday.

However, a third doctor, Ebin Soorya is being flown to Delhi for further medical treatment.

Indian diplomats in Nepal have assured Kerala officials that the bodies of the two will be flown to Delhi and from there, to Kerala on Wednesday.

Ershad, 28, and Thomas, 27, were classmates at the Kozhikode Medical College and passed out last year. Both of them was working as junior doctors in north Kerala and had resigned their jobs to go for higher studies, and taking this holiday prior to it.

Ershad, who hailed from Kasargode, and Thomas, from Kozhikode, had along with Soorya reached Nepal last week. However, the hotel where they were staying collapsed in the quake.

While Soorya managed to escape, the other two could not be rescued and their relatives identified their bodies at the Tribhuvan Hospital mortuary Tuesday evening.

Kasargode MP P.Karunakaran meanwhile said that he is baffled how state Diaspora Minister K.C.Joseph, who is in Delhi, had clarified that these two doctors are safe.

"At this juncture I do not wish to blame anyone. May be there was some miscommunication and that is how the reports had come yesterday (Monday) that these two doctors are safe," Karunakaran told media.