The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Fire kills Nizamabad boy in U.S.

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Wednesday, Dec 05, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Fire kills Nizamabad boy in U.S.

Ravi Reddy

HYDERABAD: It was a tragic end to the blossoming career of a 24-year-old student from Nizamabad district, who was pursuing MS in Silicon Valley University, San Jose, USA, when he was charred to death along with another person in an Indian Restaurant last week.

Telugus in the US raised funds to ensure that the body is sent to India. Anil Reddy Middekadi, hailing from Wajeednagar in Bichkunda mandal of Nizamabad district arrived in USA this August. He had completed engineering course from Malla Reddy Engineering College, Hyderabad before leaving for the US.

Buchanna Gajula, founder member of ‘Nizamabad.org’, a US-based NGO floated by natives of Nizamabad, told The Hindu over phone on Tuesday that Anil Reddy and a Goan died in a fire accident in a restaurant in San Francisco on November 29. He was sleeping in the restaurant’s loft area when fire broke out.

Mr. Gajula said that the Indian community in the US had raised US$ 6,000 to send the embalmed body of Anil Reddy, who did not have health and life insurance, to India.

He said the Bay Area Telugu Association (BATA) had established funeral fund for the victim. The American Telugu Association (ATA) had already donated $1,000 towards the funeral expenses. The body is expected to arrive in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Nizamabad MP Madhu Yaskhi said that he had already spoken to officials of the Indian Consulate in the US for shifting the body to India immediately. He said he would write to Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy requesting for financial assistance, as the family of the victim had borrowed Rs. 8 lakh from banks to send him abroad. “I have instructed my law firm in US to sue the restaurant,” he added.

Anil was the youngest of the three children of Srinivas Reddy, agriculturist and Rukmini. Dr. Santosh Reddy, victim’s cousin said the family members were in a state of shock.

“Anil was a brilliant student, who stood first all through his career,” he said.

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