Family of dead Kerala man receives wrong body after a mix up in UAE

In an unfortunate mix up, a family in Kerala, awaiting the mortal remains of their relative after his untimely death in the UAE capital, has received the body of another Indian expatriate, who also died here almost during the same time, according to a media report  on Saturday.

Nidhin Othayoth Kottaron, 29, who was working as a site supervisor in Ruwais died last week.

But his family, waiting for his body received the mortal remains of Kamatchi Krishnan, 39, hailing from Tamil Nadu, the Khaleej Times reported.

The mix up was discovered by Kottaron’s family when they received a coffin, with the body of Krishnan, which reached Calicut on Friday by an Air India flight.

“His (Kottaron’s) parents were desperately waiting for the mortal remains for one week. They are still in a state of shock on what happened,” one of the relative was quoted as saying in the report.

Kottaron was found dead on July 5, while Krishnan reportedly died on July 7, the report said, adding that cause of their deaths could not be ascertained.

While both Kottaron and Krishnan - died two days apart but it is not clear how mix up happened, the relative said.

At present, Krishnan’s body is kept in the mortuary of a government hospital in Kottaron’s native place in Wayanad, Kerala.

According to an Air India official, all the necessary and required documents were submitted while repatriating the body.

“Kottaron’s body was supposed to be sent on Air India’s Calicut-bound flight on Friday and Krishnan’s mortal remains were booked on an Etihad flight to Chennai on the same day.

“A relative of the deceased was also travelling with the body. It was a human error while embalming at the UAE mortuary that caused the mix up,” Air India Manager for Abu Dhabi and Al Ain sector, Ranjan Dutta was quoted as saying in the report.

“We are awaiting clearance from the authorities concerned and once the documents are ready, Air India will extend full cooperation to repatriate the mortal remains at the earliest,” he added.

Meanwhile, an Indian embassy official, dealing with the case, said they are doing everything possible to help the families.

“We are not sure how this unfortunate incident happened. Our first priority is to support the families by expediting the repatriation of the body, which is still in the mortuary,” the official said in the report.