Buried under the snow, they died of asphyxia

Photo Source & Courtesy: EastMojo

DICHEN ONGMU, EOI, GANGTOK, 5 APRIL 2023 : On Wednesday, the bodies of three of the victims from Nepal of the snowslide in Sikkim were handed over to their families and taken in a hearse from the STNM Hospital after completion of the autopsy.

The bodies will be transported to Kakarvitta on the Indo-Nepal border near Siliguri and then handed over to the Nepal government to ensure that they reach their homes with all the necessary logistical support. The three victims from Nepal were identified as two women, one aged 29 years from Rupandi and a 22-year-old from Chitwan.

The body of the third victim, a 32-year-old man from Chitwan, was also taken to the Indo-Nepal border in the same hearse. The body of a 28-year-old from Siliguri was also handed over to his family and taken in a separate hearse from STNM Hospital on the same day. 

The autopsies of two other victims from Uttar Pradesh and the one from Kolkata, West Bengal, have been conducted, but the flights carrying their bodies will take off on Thursday. The relatives of one of the victims could not identify the deceased. According to STNM Hospital sources, the forensic reports of all seven victims suggest that asphyxia was the cause of death. None of the victims had any major injuries. 

 They were all buried under the snow, resulting in asphyxia. However, a detailed report on their death will only be available after two weeks. The logistics for flying the bodies of the remaining victims to their homes in Uttar Pradesh and Kolkata are being overseen by the State government, as per a tourism stakeholder. 

Meanwhile, the majority of the injured tourists admitted to the STNM Hospital were discharged on Wednesday, except for a few with major injuries. Patients who wished to seek medical attention outside of the hospital or in other parts of the country were given permission to do so.