Delhi family killed in Gulmarg Gondola accident loved to travel, had planned the vacation last minute

The family of four had been living in Shalimar Bagh for the past five years.

A last-minute weekend holiday plan turned into a tragedy for the Andraskar family.

Jayant and Manshea Andraskar were among the seven who died in the Gulmarg Gondola accident.

Jayant and his wife Manshea, along with their two daughters Anagha and Janhvi, were among the seven people killed on Sunday in the Gulmarg cable car accident.

The four had come back from Maharashtra only last week.

“They loved to travel. They just went to Maharashtra for a wedding and returned last week. To go to Kashmir was a sudden plan. Maybe because of the weekend. They left on Friday and were to return on Tuesday,” Mohini, a neighbour, whose daughter studies with Anagha, said.

The family, hailing from Nagpur, had been staying in Shalimar Bagh for the past five years. Jayant worked as a lecturer of civil engineering at Pusa Institute and his wife was a homemaker. While Anagha had just joined nursery school, Janhvi was a Class 2 student.

“The kids were so excited for the trip that the elder daughter asked her tuition teacher to get done with the class early as she had to sleep and wake up early morning to catch a flight... Manshea told me that they were going for a short trip with the kids and will be back on Tuesday and that I should take care of the house,” she added.

The unfortunate news came on Sunday evening after which the media thronged the Shalimar Bagh residence of the family. That is when the neighbours realised that the family was no more. Their door was found to be locked.

The family lived in Shalimar Bagh, and neighbours had expected them back on Tuesday. (Arun Sharma/HT File Photo)

“I got a call from one of our common friends when she saw the news on TV. I was numb when I heard about the accident. We then made a few calls to Srinagar and were told that they were fine. The police told us that they have been admitted. But we saw the visuals on TV. The policemen were carrying them to the ambulance. I could not see the faces but was really hoping and praying that they were fine. It is only now that I found out that they are no more. I do not know what to tell my three-year-old daughter. She has been asking me so many questions,” Mohini said.

The family, hailing from Nagpur, had been staying in Shalimar Bagh for the past five years.