Patna, July 17: Pawan Kumar and Dilip Kumar, small-time traders in Danapur, left home on July 10 promising their kids toys and prasad from Amarnath, but yesterday the family only received bad news.
The brothers - sons of Dina Nath Prasad - were among the Amarnath yatris who died on Sunday when the bus carrying them skidded off the road and rolled down a deep gorge in the Banihal area of Jammu, the second tragedy to hit the pilgrimage this year. Officials said the bus, part of a convoy bound for the shrine, was on its way from Jammu to Pahalgam, one of the two base camps when it fell into the gorge in Ramban district.
Pawan's four kids - two sons and two daughters - and Dilip's son and daughter are inconsolable since hearing of the tragedy. All six kids study in a government school in the Danapur area.
Dina Nath's younger son Anand said: "Who will look after the kids after the death of my two elder brothers? Pawan bhaiya and Dilip bhaiya were the earning members in the family - who will now bear their educational expenses of their kids?"
The family has business of selling utensils and plastic items in the Danapur area. The brothers had set out for the yatra with Meena Devi, Rahul Kumar, Rohit Kumar and Sagar Kumar from Danapur - all of whom died in yesterday's tragedy.
As news of the accident reached the family last evening, their relatives and friends started assembling at the house to console the bereaved. "The loss my family has suffered is unbearable," Anand said. "But our request to the government is to bear the educational expenses of my brothers' children."
Meena Devi, the wife of Juhar Sahu, had set out on the pilgrimage to seek blessings for her family, but they too now are shocked of the sudden turn of fate.
"We were shocked when we heard of the accident," said Meena's son Amar Kumar. "My mother had gone to the Amarnath Yatra to seek Lord Shiva's blessing for the family. Her death is a big loss for us.
"The district administration has told us the bodies have reached Delhi and will reach Patna on Monday," Amar added.
Patna district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said: "The district administration had contacted officials in Delhi and we have been told that five bodies will reach Patna by Monday evening. Post-mortem of the sixth victim, Rahul Kumar, was conducted late because he succumbed to his injures in the hospital. His body will reach Patna later."
The district administration has also decided to provide air tickets for two family members each of the three injured persons from Bihar undergoing treatment in Jammu and Delhi.
