3 members of Indian-origin family killed in New York fire
Darpan News Desk IANS, 21 Jun, 2022 10:54 AM
New York, June 20 (IANS) An Indian-origin couple and their son have been killed in a house fire in the city, according to media reports.
WPIX TV station reported that the house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived there on Friday afternoon and found two bodies in a basement flat.
Firefighters found the third body the next day, it said.
The New York Post, quoting neighbours and relatives, identified the couple as Nanda Balo Persaud and Bono Salima 'Sally' Persaud.
The body of their son Devon Persaud, 22, was found only the next day.
The incident was classified by officials as a "five-alarm fire" which spread to four other houses fanned by strong wind gusts, WPIX reported.
It reported that 29 adults and 13 children from nine families were affected by the fire while many firefighters were injured.
New York Post said that according to the relatives, Nanda Persaud retired from a company that makes medicines while his wife worked at the JFK Airport.
An online fundraiser for the family on Gofundme raised $34.923 from 429 donations as of Monday morning.
Salima Persaud's cousin Abid Ali, who organised the fundraiser, wrote, "They were a family who worked hard and came from a humble background."
"They were always so welcoming, treated everyone like family, and always tried their best to put a smile on everyone's faces," he wrote.
According to him, many of their family members are in Guyana.
Their house is located in the city's Queens borough in a neighbourhood with many families of Indian descent who immigrated from Guyana.
The Foreign Secretary stated that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has spoken to his Polish, Romanian, Hungarian, and Slovakian counterparts for setting up a camp at border areas for evacuation of stranded Indian nationals. He also stated that flight options are available through Dubai and Istanbul and that the Indian Embassy continues to be operational in Ukraine.
The Ministry of External Affairs in touch with all the neighbouring countries surrounding Ukraine to even evacuate Indian citizens. Many citizens who were to fly back to India were left at the airport after closure of Ukrainian airspace following Russia's Vladimir Putin announcement of a military operation in Ukraine.
Amidst the prevailing tension, the Indian students stranded in Ukraine are left with no choice but to queue up outside the Indian Embassy in Kiev seeking the authorities' help as they ran out of food and money. The Russian military actions in Ukraine have triggered panic among all sections, including students from India.
Clashes have also been taking place around the capital Kiev in the north and the Black Sea port cities of Odesa and Mariupol in the south, the report said. Air strikes from Russia have been carried out on Ukrainian military bases and airports, with fierce fighting reported around a key airport near Kiev.
The top of the Tower shone bright with a burnt orange top Tuesday, February 22, 2022 to celebrate student Jaskaran Singh’s victory in the “Jeopardy! National College Championship" shared the university's website.
Students at the Ternopil Medical University in Ukraine capital Kyiv are in constant touch with the Indian Embassy. The varsity is also extending assistance to the students. There are around 20,000 Indian nationals in Ukraine. Most of them are medical students.
