Turkey earthquake: Who was Vijay Kumar? Indian man who lost his life in the calamity

Body of Vijay Kumar, 36-year-old Indian man from Uttarakhand was discovered under the debris of a hotel in Tukey's Malatya, where he was travelling on business. He had been missing since the deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, 

“We inform with sorrow that the mortal remains of Shri Vijay Kumar, an Indian national missing in Turkiye since February 6 earthquake, have been found and identified among the debris of a hotel in Malatya, where he was on a business trip,” the Indian Embassy in Ankara tweeted.

“Our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. We are making arrangements for the earliest possible transportation of his mortal remains to his family,” it further added.

Who was Vijay Kumar?

Vijay Kumar, a technician for the Bengaluru-based gas plant company Oxyplant India Pvt Ltd, left for Turkey on January 25 and was residing at the Avsar Hostel in Malatya. He lived in the state of Uttarakhand. They used to talk on the phone every night since he left for Turkey, according to his brother Arun Kumar, who resides in Pauri Garwahl, Uttarakhand, but on Sunday night of the quake (February 6 early morning), he did not call.

The family learned that Turkey and Syria had been hit by an massive disaster the following day. Kumar was the father of 6-year-old son and husband of Pinky Gaur.   According to the media report, his father Ramesh Chand Gaur had suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away in December 2022.

To install and start up an acetylene gas plant in Malatya, Turkey, Kumar was sent there. On January 17, he obtained his visa and secured his passport. Over a year ago, Kumar switched to Oxyplant, Bengaluru, after working for a company with a Delhi address. Since the country's earthquake, according to Kumar's family, the MEA has been looking for him.

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(With inputs from ANI)