Sri Lanka blasts: Three more from city confirmed dead

Bengaluru: The death toll of Bengalureans in the serial bomb blast that rocked Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday and killed more than 300 people, has now risen to 10, with seven of them being identified as JD(S) workers.

This was confirmed by the Ministry of External Affairs to the state Government. A letter (dated April 23) from the Principal Secretary to the state government has identified the 10 deceased as Hanumanthrayappa, Lakshminarayana, Rangappa, Ramesh, Narayan Chandrashekhar, Shettyapalya Ramkrishnappa Nagaraj, Hanumaiah Shivkumar, Remurai Tulsiram, Maregowda and Purttaraju, all hailing from Bengaluru.

While seven people were confirmed dead on Monday itself, the bodies of Puttaraju, Maregowda and Tulsiram were identified on Tuesday.

Chief Minister H.D. Kumarswamy has tweeted that the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka has made necessary arrangement to bring the mortal remains to Bengaluru latest by Wednesday.

The JD (S) workers, Hanumantha—rayappa, Lakshminarayana, Rangappa, Narayan Chandrashekhar, Shettyapalya Ramkrishnappa Nagaraj, Maregowda and Puttaraju had gone on a vacation to Sri Lanka after the first phase of election on April 18. They left Bengaluru late Saturday and reached Colombo early Sunday by 7 am. Hanumanthrayappa had called his family at around 9 am informing them about his arrival in Colombo. The team was lodged at the Shangri-La Hotel, which was one of eight locations that came under terror attack. The family got to know about the serial blasts at around 12:30 pm.

Hanumantharayappa was a builder and President of Mathrushree Developers, while other workers were also into real estate business and residents of Nelamangala and Tumakuru.

The other three deceased were said to be businessmen on vacation in Sri Lanka. The bodies are expected to reach Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

The family members of the deceased are in Sri Lanka to take back the bodies to India to perform last rites, said a relative of a JDS worker who died in the blast.

Accrording to Deputy Secretary State Protocol Vijay Mahantesh, who is also director of the State Hospitality Organisation, the mortal remains of Hanumantharayappa, Lakshminarayana, Rangappa, and  Shivakumar would  reach Bengaluru by Sri Lankan Airlines UL 173  flight at 2.30 am on Wednesday.

The mortal remains of Ramesh, Maregowda and Puttaraju were expected to arrive later on Wednesday. The body of Shettipalya Ramakrishnappa Nagaraj is expected to reach Bengaluru airport by Sri Lankan Airlines UL 171, at 8 pm on Tuesday.