Eight victims laid to rest in Karwar

The bodies of eight victims from Uttar Kannada district, who lost their lives in the Air India crash at Mangalore’s Bajpe International Airport on Saturday, was brought here on Sunday.

The final rites of Mohammed Naseer Damudi (42), Bibi Sara (11), Nabeeha Mohammed Nasir (6), Mohammed Nazeer Suhaib (9), Mohamed Aban Ruknuddin (3), Abdulbarr Damudi (11), Faraz Usman Moinuddin (48) and Naziya Afreen from Bhatkal, and Prasad Manjerekar from Sultanpur in Karwar, were performed on Sunday.

The cries of the family members of the victims filled the air as the bodies were brought into Bhatkal from Mangalore. Villagers, who had assembled at the house of Naseer Damudhi, were grief-stricken and speechless when the bodies of the little children were brought inside the house. There was not a single dry eye in the room.

Bibi Sara and Suhaib were students of Anandashrama School in Bhatkal. The crash on Saturday had cut short the lives of these little ones even before it began and with it all their dreams.

Another victim, Faraz Usman Moinuddin, was the only earning member of his family and was one of the six sons of 95-year-old Bibi Sharif. He had been working as a driver in Dubai for the past 35 years and had returned home six months back due to some health problems.

On April 12, he had returned to Dubai in search of a job on a visiting visa and had found a job as a driver at an airport in Dubai. Meanwhile, his mother fell ill and Moinuddin decided to come back to visit her. However, fate had other plans in store. Moinuddin managed to reach his homeland, but not his home to see his ailing mother.