The narrow lane leading to Chembanezhathu House in Eroor, Thripunithura, was packed with people since Tuesday afternoon. In the midst of the silent crowd, Shashi sat on a rickety plastic chair, burying his face in his hands.
The 49-year-old man was yet to recover from the shock of having seen the half-burnt body of his younger brother, C.S. Unnikrishnan. The 47-year-old Unnikrishnan, who worked as a senior fireman with the Cochin Shipyard, was one among the five persons killed in an explosion on an ONGC rig here on Tuesday.
“I was on my way to the city when my friend called me and told me about the blast,” said Mr. Shashi, who works as a contract employee at the shipyard. He rushed to the accident site, only to hear the news of the death of his brother. “When I reached there, the whole area was under a thick cover of smoke. It was all chaos, and all I could think of was how many were injured and how many had died,” he said.
According to Mr. Shashi, Unnikrishnan was to complete his one-year tenure as a duty officer on board the ship by the end of February. “He would have moved to the fire station here. But destiny always has a different plan and you never know it,” he added.
Unnikrishnan had been working as a fireman with the Cochin Shipyard for the last one-and-a-half decades. Seven years ago, he was appointed a permanent employee with the Central public sector unit. He is survived by wife Sindhu, and daughters, Athira and Arya.
Unnikrishnan’s body was brought to the house by 5.15 p.m. and the cremation was held later in the day.
Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the residence of M.V. Kannan, also a native of Eroor who was killed in the accident. Thankamma and Velu, the aged parents of the deceased, wept inconsolably near the coffin of their son, which was laid outside their house. Kannan’s wife Maya and his children Sanjana and Sanjith were lost in grief.
Yet to come to terms with the death of his friend, Jayan said Kannan’s death had left the family in the lurch. “His wife Maya is employed with a private company but the income from Kannan was their mainstay,” said Jayan.
Kannan’s body was brought to the house by 3.30 p.m. after post-mortem examination at the Ernakulam general hospital. The cremation was held around 6 p.m.
Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac, Thripunithura municipal chairperson Chandrika Devi and Revenue Department officials were among those who visited the family members of the deceased workers and shared their grief.
