An Indian woman passenger who died at the Muscat airport on Sunday after she lost her passport during transit and got stranded at the terminal for four days hailed from Andhra Pradesh and not from Kerala as presumed initially. An official of the Indian Embassy in Muscat said the woman, Beebi Lumada, hailed from Chittoor district. The official could not provide more details about Beebi or when her body, which was being kept for post-mortem examination, would be flown to India.
Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi told The Hindu from Alappuzha that apathy on the part of airline officials had resulted in Beebi's plight.
Quoting from a report sent to him by the Indian Ambassador in Muscat on Monday, Mr. Ravi said the embassy was in “constant touch” with Beebi on all days she was at the airport. The embassy could not get her out of the terminal.
Mr. Ravi said the embassy requested the Emigration Authorities in Muscat and also the airline in which Beebi was travelling to Chennai via Doha to issue a certificate stating that the woman had lost her passport at Doha during transit so that they could issue her a new passport to facilitate her travel home.
Mr. Ravi said some delay had occurred in the procedure and termed the incident “saddening and extremely unfortunate.”
He would verify the allegations that Indian Embassy officials in Muscat did not visit Beebi.
