Deoria (UP), Aug 23 (PTI) The mortal remains of 22-year-old Abhishek Nishad from Deoria, who was killed in a missile strike on a cargo ship near Ukraine’s Odesa port, reached India on Sunday, 34 days after the incident.
The body of Nishad along with that of Karnataka’s Akhil Joyan, was brought to India via Moldova.
After arriving at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, Nishad’s relatives left for his native village Karmel in Deoria at around 8 am, a representative of the shipping company, Pratigya Tripathi, said over the phone.
The deceased was working as a crew member aboard the cargo vessel Golden Leo.
He had reached Mumbai from Varanasi on July 10 and boarded the ship on July 11 after travelling through Turkiye, Tripathi said.
The vessel was carrying cargo to Makkah when it came under a missile attack near the Odesa port on July 19.
Nishad was among the Indian crew members killed in the strike.
His body was badly damaged in the attack and could not be identified through normal procedures as the victims were of similar age, the company representative said.
DNA tests were subsequently conducted, and Nishad’s identity was confirmed after the samples matched.
His remains were transported from Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv to Chisinau International Airport in Moldova and subsequently flown to New Delhi.
The shipping company has arranged an ambulance to transport the body from Delhi to Karmel, where it is expected to arrive late Sunday.
Tripathi said four Indian crew members were confirmed killed in the July 19 missile strike near Odesa.
The delay in bringing Nishad’s remains to India had been brought to the attention of Union Minister of State Kamlesh Paswan by the Ministry of External Affairs, she said.
After completion of DNA testing and other formalities, Nishad’s body is finally being brought to his native village, 34 days after his death, family members said. PTI COR ABN PRK
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