One from Tamil Nadu killed in Sudan factory blast, another missing

Family of Nagapattinam youth anxiously waits for news about his whereabouts

M. Rajasekar, from Panruti in Cuddalore, who died in Sudan on Wednesday. His colleague Ramakrishnan, right, from Nagapattinam district is still missing.

A 35-year-old man from Cuddalore has been killed in the blast at a ceramic factory in Khartoum, Sudan, and another youth from Nagapattinam, who was employed there, has gone missing, according to reports reaching here.

M. Rajasekar, 35, an employee of the ill-fated ceramic factory, was on a video call with his wife around 1 a.m. on December 3, a few minutes before an LPG tanker blast destroyed the factory.

Rajasekar and two of his roommates preferred to stay back while a few others in the quarters went out for shopping.

Last phone call

“He was on a video call with his wife Kalaisundari, 33, a resident of Maandikuppam in Panruti block when a deafening sound that seemed to have been caused by the explosion disconnected the call. Sensing something amiss, a worried Kalaisundari tried calling him, but in vain. It was his last call and officials from the Indian Embassy in Sudan said that his name was among the list of dead. We are still to come to terms with the fact that he is no more,” said Thirunavakarasu, uncle of Rajasekar.

Rajasekar was the sole breadwinner of his family and the news has left the family in the lurch.

He went to Sudan in April after a two-month vacation. He leaves behind three-year-old daughter Shivani.

District Collector V. Anbuselvan said that preliminary reports from Sudan showed that Rajasekar’s name was on the list of dead persons but the body was yet to be identified.

The family of Rajasekar has submitted a petition seeking the government’s help in bringing back the body. “We have alerted the government and they are in touch with the Indian Embassy in Sudan,” he said.

Mr. Thirunavakarasu said that Rajasekar, a diploma-holder in ceramic engineering, had worked in a factory in Karaikal in the Union Territory of Puducherry. The management used to be irregular in paying salaries. He shifted his family to Panruti in Cuddalore district and went to Sudan in April.

No information

Anxious family members of Ramakrishnan, 26, who was also employed at the factory at Khartoum, are pinning their hopes on the Union and State governments for authentic information about his whereabouts.

The family members of Ramakrishnan, who live in Alangudicheri near Thittacheri in Nagapattinam district, said that initial information from an unofficial channel indicated that he had died in the explosion. But this could not be verified.

“We only know that my brother’s name is in the list of missing workers. When I contacted the Sudanese embassy late on Wednesday night, the authorities said that updates about the explosion could be posted on the website. So far, there has been no information about my missing brother,” said Mr. Ramakrishnan’s sister Tilaka.

Parents meet Collector

Mr. Ramakrishnan’s parents Ramalingam, 58, and Muthulakshmi, 50, called on District Collector Praveen P. Nair requesting him to convey their anguish to the Union and State governments.

A senior official of the district administration said there had been no official information about the whereabouts of Mr. Ramakrishnan so far.