Mangalore : St Agnes College Ex-student Ruby Mary (32) Among Kenya Air Crash Victims
Daijiworld Media Network Mangalore
Mangalore, May 7: Among 15 confirmed to have died in Saturday's Kenya Airways crash, four are from Karnataka. Thirtytwo-year-old Ruby Mary who boarded this ill-fated plane was former student of St Agnes College Mangalore. She hailed from Puttur and had completed her MZC from the 1995 batch.
When daijiworld.com contacted Sr Prem, prinicipal of St Agnes College, she could not beleive the news as just two months ago Ruby had come down to meet her, requesting for seat for a relative in the same college.
"Ruby was working in Chennai and was still a spinster. She was very good in books and was a bright student. Even her uncle called me up almost a week ago in connection with the admission of their relative," she said.
"This news is unbelievable and at this moment I cannot do anything more than consoling her family. Our sincere condolences to her family," said Sr Prem.
Ruby Mary Paul had been working for an MNC in Chennai for the last two years. She was in Cameroon for the last two months on a visiting visa. Apparently, she was in the African country on an official assignment.
The relatives have been anxiously waiting for confirmed information regarding the fate of those on board the flight. Until late Sunday evening, all that they knew through the media was that the airliner had crashed and that their loved ones were on board. The wreckages of the crashed airliner are yet to be found.
The Indian High Commission in Mombasa is in touch with the airline authorities. The External Affairs Ministry has put the list of Indian nationals on its website late on Sunday.
Deccan Herald Mangalore adds:
In a couple of days’ time Madhusudhan, his wife and their daughter would have been in their native Mysore on a month’s vacation. And, Ruby Paul, a trainer with one of the software MNCs based in Chennai would have returned to her base after a two-month-long assignment in Cameroon, the West African country. But fate willed otherwise.
These four from Karnataka were among the 15 “confirmed” Indian nationals who had boarded the ill-fated Kenyan Airways Ko507 flying from Douala airport in Cameroon to Nairobi. The Boeing 737-800 had crashed minutes after it took off from Douala.
Madhusudhan, 42, his wife Bhagya, 34, and their daughter Poojitha, 10, were to take a connecting flight from Nairobi to Mumbai. Likewise, Ruby Paul, 32, too was to take a connecting flight from Nairobi to Mumbai. Madhusudan, a chartered account, has been based in Cameroon for the last two years working with a pharmaceutical company, Strides Arco Labs. When contacted over phone, his brother Murali, who is based in Bangalore,s aid the Madhusudan family was travelling to India on a month’s vacation.
As per the list, 15 of the 114 passengers on board were “confirmed” Indian nationals. A 16th passenger - David Kenneth John - too is believed to be an Indian national but that is yet to be confirmed. Besides four from Karnataka, another seven passengers were from the southern states, mainly Kerala.
Mother waits for son, his family
Shantha Satyanarayana, mother of Madhusudhan, is spending anxious moments waiting for some good news about her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter who were in the ill-fated Kenyan Airlines flight that went missing with 15 Indians on board on Friday, DHNS reports from Bangalore.
Poojitha, Bhagya and Madhusoodan
J P Nagar 7th Phase residents, Madhusudhan (41), his wife Bhagya Madhusudhan (34) and their daughter Poojitha (10) were heading home for a holiday and were scheduled to land by Saturday night.
Madhusudhan, working for Strides pharmaceutical company as finance manager, was in Cameroon for the last two years.
His mother, who lives in Mysore, came to Bangalore to receive her son. Looking shattered by the news, she has been sitting glued to TV set for the last 24 hours to hear some good news about her son.
She told : “On May 4, Madhu, my daughter-in-law and granddaughter spoke to me. They were thrilled that they were returning to their homeland after a year. Last year during the same time they were in Bangalore to attend a marriage and exactly on same date (May 7) the family left for Kenya. Today, we are so confused and don't know the fate of my son and his family. Every hour my elder son is trying to get in touch with one of his colleagues in Kenya.”
Madhusudhan's elder brother Anantha's house is packed with relatives and whenever the phone rings all of them look towards the Raghavendra Swamy photograph and pray for some good news. "No official from the embassy or from the Indian government has contacted us. Meanwhile, we are making arrangements to go to Kenya by Tuesday,” he said.
In Mysore, Madhusudan’s younger brother Murali said his brother’s family was “coming back for a holiday. He also wanted to leave his daughter and wife behind as he felt education in Kenya was not up to the mark.”
After their father’s death some years ago, their mother has been living in Ramakrishna Nagar in Mysore while the other three brothers had moved to Bangalore.
Earlier updates: