Kuwait tragedy: Daughter’s birthday on mind, fire victim deferred visit home
Times of India | 14 June 2024
MIDNAPORE: Fifty-two-year-old Dwarikesh Pattanayak had deferred his summer visit home from Kuwait so that he could attend his only daughter's birthday, which falls on Ashtami this year. But all plans were cut short. His wife Antara received a call from Dwarikesh's employer at 2.30pm on Thursday, saying that her husband was among the dead in the blaze at a residential building in Mangaf, Kuwait.Antara and her daughter, a Class XI student, have gone into shock.
Dwarikesh moved to Kuwait the same year he got married two decades back. Originally from Dantan in West Midnapore, the family had shifted to Saratpally a few years back. Dwarikesh's brother-in-law Sayantan Pattanayak said, "We called home every day at 8am. On Wednesday, didi (Antara) did not receive the call. She called back twice, once in the morning and then in the afternoon, but the phone was unresponsive. Anxious, she called her husband's friend, who works in Kuwait and stays in Kerala. The friend later informed her of the blaze in Kuwait. But we held hope. Dwarikesh's name was on the list of missing persons. But soon after, we got a call from the NBTC (the company in which Dwarikesh worked) HR manager, informing us of his demise."
Sayantan said, "The company told us to send his photograph, Aadhaar card, and the home telephone number. The caller told us to wait for an update on when the body will be flown into Kolkata." Sayantan said, "He did not come home last year. He was supposed to come home after April, but he postponed it. He wanted to be back home for his daughter's birthday and wanted to see the Durga Puja too. Nothing like that would happen now."
Chinmoy Mahapatra, another brother-in-law of Dwarikesh, rushed to Midnapore from Kolkata after receiving the news.
CM Mamata Banerjee, meanwhile, posted on X, "Deeply shocked to know about the devastating fire incident of Kuwait, which has already taken a toll of more than 40 lives. My condolences to the bereaved families. I have instructed my Chief Secretary and Resident Commissioner in Delhi to be in constant touch with the Ministry of External Affairs to know about the well-being of people of West Bengal origin in Kuwait and to take all appropriate steps on an emergent basis."