Two days after two students from Maharashtra died in a fire in their hostel in Russia, one of the families was informed that the body will reach Mumbai airport around 1.30pm on Wednesday.
Pooja Kallur, 22, from Navi Mumbai, and Karishma Bhosale, 21, from Pune, were students of Smolensk State Medical Academy in Russia, and had been pursuing MBBS since 2012. Both of them died in the fire which broke out in their college hostel on Sunday.
On Tuesday, the Indian Embassy in Moscow informed Pooja’s family that the body would be sent to her house in Navi Mumbai around 4pm on Wednesday, after completing all formalities at the airport.
Pooja’s family had spoken to her the night before the fire. “She called around 4am on Sunday…that was the last time our family spoke to her,” Pooja’s 24-year-old brother Mayur said.
Read | Two Indian women students die in Russian medical university fire
The family blamed the college authorities. “It was their responsibility to inform us about the accident. But they are not saying anything clearly even now,” Mayur said. “The Indian embassy officials in Moscow have been very cooperative. However, they are reportedly not being entertained by the Russian investigating agencies. The local Navi Mumbai police are constantly in touch with us,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}The family blamed the college authorities. “It was their responsibility to inform us about the accident. But they are not saying anything clearly even now,” Mayur said. “The Indian embassy officials in Moscow have been very cooperative. However, they are reportedly not being entertained by the Russian investigating agencies. The local Navi Mumbai police are constantly in touch with us,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Karishma’s parents are waiting for the completion of legal formalities to receive her body. While both postmortems are done, her family is yet to receive any news. “We are waiting for any communication either from the college or from any competent authority”, said members of her family.