Dubai, May, 27 : The tragedy is yet to sink in for Dubai-based Santhosh Rai, who lost his wife Reshma, son Naland, 10, and eight-month-old daughter Viha in the Air India Express plane crash last week.
Speaking from Mangalore, where he air-dashed after the crash, Rai, a training co-ordinator with Emirates Aluminium, said, "Only time will tell. I still feel they are in Dubai, busy with work and school, while I have come here."
The Bur Dubai-based resident said Reshma was working with Emirates NBD and was headed to Mangalore after two years as she wanted her parents to see their daughter. She had been debating whether to fly on May 19 or 21 and had opted for the latter as she could spend two days in Dubai with him and their eldest son, Milind, 16, he said. But little did the family know what lay ahead. "As a family, we used to make it a point never to be apart for too long," he said, adding that Reshma was supposed to return on June 4.
He also said he had known Reshma since his college days when they were studying law in Mangalore together. "We were bench-mates," he said.
Ironically, Rai said, it was the diamond mangalsutra - a necklace considered to be a symbol of marriage among Hindus - that helped identify Reshma's charred body after the crash. "It was hidden in the flesh," he said. He said the body of Naland could be identified due to a tooth gap that he had, while that of Viha could be identified by her white dress and also because she was one of the two infants on the flight. "My daughter did not wear a chain, while the other infant was wearing one."
Rai said his only surviving child Milind is a student of JSS School in Barsha. "He is very quiet and in shock," he said.
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