The Hindu : Indian student remains untraced

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 03, 2003

International

International - India & World

Indian student remains untraced

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW DEC. 2. The fate of the Indian student missing after the November 24 fire in a Moscow dormitory is still not known, but the other Indians injured in the incident are doing well. The 23-year-old student, Murugan Mangesh, from Salem, Tamil Nadu, was initially reported as hospitalised, but could not be found in any of the Moscow hospitals where the victims were taken. His cousin, Kamal, who lives in Moscow, failed to identify him among the bodies of the 38 students killed in the fire. So far, only 20 bodies have been identified, as most of them are badly burnt and may need genetic tests to establish their identity.

About 200 foreign students were injured in Moscow's worst fire in a quarter of a century, which gutted a five-storey dormitory of the People's Friendship University.

An Indian girl, Laxmi Dave, was killed in the fire. Her body was flown to her parents in Pune on Saturday. Out of the six Indian students hospitalised, a boy, Sachin Salunge, who had suffered minor cuts from broken glass, was discharged last week. Two more, Kishore Kumar and Anirudh Deshmukh from Maharashtra, and a Manipuri girl, T. Dineshwari, did not sustain any major injuries and may be discharged in a week's time. Prason Kumar Mondal from West Bengal, whose lungs were affected in the fire and who is still on artificial respiration, is progressing well, according to doctors. His father has flown in from India to be with him. Another Manipuri girl, Vidhya Rani, is suffering from pain in her ankle and doctors are yet to decide whether she needs an operation or just more time in hospital to get well.

Following the protest by the students over lack of sympathy and support from the Indian Embassy in Moscow last week, the mission has assigned officers and members of the Indian community in the city to take care of the students still in hospital, raising $500 for each of the 12 students.

The Indian Ambassador, Krishnan Raghunath, met all the 130 students enrolled at the People's Friendship University, promising them that the Embassy would pay more attention to their problems in future. With active involvement of the Indian Business Association in Moscow, the Embassy hopes to eventually increase the financial aid to $1,000.

Meanwhile, authorities are still investigating the possible causes of the fire, which range from faulty electric appliances to arson. A deputy chief Moscow prosecutor has accused the People's Friendship University of violations of fire safety rules. The Acting Rector of the PFU, Dmitry Bilibin, has resigned accepting responsibility for the disaster. The state fire inspection is checking all Moscow dormitories for fire safety measures; eight hostels have been issued closure notices over gross security lapses.

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