The Hindu : International / India & World : Moves on to bring back bodies of Al Khobar victims

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 02, 2004

International

International - India & World

Moves on to bring back bodies of Al Khobar victims

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, JUNE 1. The next of kin of all the eight Indians killed in the terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia's eastern oil city of Al Khobar have been informed and efforts are under way to send their bodies back. J.S. Mukul, Minister in the Indian embassy in Riyadh, told The Hindu that two teams from the mission were in Al Khobar to facilitate arrangements for this.

These teams had first identified all the deceased, contacted the next of kin, and were going through procedures that would speed up the process of sending back the bodies. India's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Kamaluddin Ahmad, is visiting Al Khobar on Wednesday to personally supervise the arrangements.

Analysts say that the return of the bodies could be time-consuming as under national law, the legal responsibility for this lies with the employer. Besides, the procurement of documentation such as death certificates and police clearances also takes time. In normal circumstances, it takes three to four weeks to send a body back home from the Kingdom.

Among the eight Indians killed, Lawrence Gregory Monice, worked as General Manager with Al Saqr Insurance Company. He died when a stray bullet struck him as he was driving to office. The other seven were employed with the Saad Group of Companies, which was involved in the maintenance of the upscale Oasis compound, which the militants had attacked. Highly-placed sources categorically denied reports in a section of the media that militants had killed some of the Indian hostages by slitting their throats.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International