Kochi: A wave of tragedy and sorrow struck Cheranellor and Chottanikkara panchayats as bodies of three members of a family, who were charred to death in the Delhi fire tragedy on Tuesday, were flown back home and laid to rest.
The bodies of Panelil Naliniamma (84), her son P C Vidhyasagar (59), and daughter P C Jayasree (53) were flown in an Air-India aircraft and brought to the Nedumbassery international airport, Kochi, by 8.35 am.
A team of relatives and friends, led by Hibi Eden, MLA, received the bodies and shifted them to the family's ancestral home in Cheranellor. The other members of the 13-member group, which had gone to Delhi and escaped unhurt, reached home by noon.
Naliniamma and Vidhyasagar were cremated at their home in Cheranelloor by 1 pm while Jayasree was laid to rest at her husband's home in Chottanikkara by 5 pm.
Jayasree's husband Unnikrishnan, who works in UAE, reached Kochi on Tuesday.
Hundreds of people from different walks of life including elected representatives and politicians paid their last respect to the deceased. The villagers found it difficult to console the family members who were yet to come out of the shock.
A 13-member group of relatives from five families left to Delhi to attend marriage of granddaughter of Naliniamma's sister on February 7.
The group stayed back in the capital for sight-seeing after the marriage and was scheduled to fly back on February 17. However, tragedy struck when a huge fire broke out at the hotel they were staying in the wee hours of Tuesday.
The three were among the 17 people killed in the tragedy.
