Hill youth dies in Nepal tower crash

Dipesh Rai

Rajeev Ravidas, TT, Darjeeling, April 26: A Darjeeling graduate who was in the Dharahara tower in Kathmandu yesterday died in the quake. Dipesh Rai, 26, had gone to Kathmandu to visit relatives. Dipesh, whose parents work in Hong Kong, have been informed, his maternal uncle Deven Rai said today.

The youth's body, iPad and cellphone were found in the debris of the tower.

Dipesh, who was unemployed, had left Darjeeling for Kathmandu 10 days ago.

"I got a call late last night from my uncle in Kathmandu, informing us about Dipesh's death. My uncle could only tell me that my nephew had died, and his body was recovered at Dharahara along with his iPad and mobile phone," Deven, who lives in Singtam, said.

Singtam is 10km from Darjeeling town.

Deven said the youth's mother and father work and live in Hong Kong, and they were informed about the tragedy. "My sister and brother-in-law are trying to reach Kathmandu at the earliest. The family wants to get my nephew's body to Darjeeling and have his funeral at Singtam. We have also reached out to the Darjeeling district magistrate and the GTA chief executive Bimal Gurung to help us bring the body of our Phumu (Dipesh's nickname) home," Deven said.

Dipesh is a humanities graduate. He is from Darjeeling College and used to live in a rented place with his younger sister and aunt. He went to Kathmandu by road.

His father is a security guard and his mother works as a house maid in Hong Kong, Deven said.

The Dharahara tower where Dipesh had gone yesterday is in central Kathmandu. Only a stub of the 203-foot structure remains after the quake.

The 182-year-old tower is one of Kathmandu's biggest tourist attractions and a Unesco-recognised historical monument. Yesterday alone 200 bodies were fished out from the rubble of the structure.

The tower was built in 1832 by then Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa.

The tower, along with another built by Bhimsen, seems to have had an earthquake jinx, a Wikipedia entry suggested. Bhimsen had built the first tower eight years earlier in 1824, the online encyclopaedia said, adding that it was 11 stories high - two stories taller than the Dharahara. Both survived the earthquake of 1834 but the first apparently suffered severe damage.