Three Nepal flight crash victims had just visited Kerala

The Nepal flight crash has come as a shock for a family at Pathanamthitta district in Kerala as three of the victims had just returned after attending a funeral in the family.

Raju, Aneel and Rabin had come down to attend the funeral of a former evangelist missionary worker Mathew Philip, 76. at Anikkadu near Mallappally town in Pathanamthitta on January 13.

Philip's brother Thomas told DH that the three were part of a five member team that came to attend his elder brother's funeral. All of them returned on January 13 evening from Kochi to Mumbai and from there to Kathmandu.

"On Sunday we were informed by a Malayali family in Nepal that three of the five who attended the funeral were traveling in the ill-fated flight. Later we confirmed it from the passengers list," he said.

Philip was engaged in missionary activities in Nepal for over four decades. He returned to Kerala two years back and was undergoing treatment for cancer.

All the 68 passengers and four crew members in the Pokhara bound flight had died in the crash on Sunday.