Bengaluru: An eerie silence engulfed the Laboratory for Hypersonic and Shock Wave Research (LHSR) a day after Manoj Kumar was killed on the spot and three colleagues were critically wounded in a mysterious cylinder blast with more probe teams arriving to investigate the mishap even as students at Indian Institute of Science (IISc) worked their cell phones and mails to gather blood donors for Naresh Kumar, Karthik Shenoy and Athulya Uday Kumar who are likely to be operated upon at M S Ramaiah Memorial Hospital on Friday.
As Manoj's mortal remains were brought home to JSS layout in Mysuru, and later consigned to the flames, many IISc students and junior research staff recalled Manoj's athletic sprint on the football field during weekend games outside IISc campus. “He used to turn up wearing a jacket similar to one worn by Team Barcelona. Recently, he suffered a ligament tear during a match, but did not miss out on work. He used to limp to the lab,” recalled one of them.
Prof K.P.J. Reddy, who launched the start-up, Super Wave Technology Pvt Ltd, joined the bereaved family during the last rites in Mysuru on Thursday while Prof G Jagadeesh spent the entire day responding to queries of officers of investigating teams.
"I am happy that I made it to the funeral of this genial young colleague who was a typical mysurean in every sense. he joined us about three years ago and remained a humble member of our team," said Prof. Reddy adding that everyone would keep off the laboratory till Monday to facilitate a thorough investigation into the blast.
Sources in IISc said the Union government acted promptly by deputing Mr Subba Rao, joint secretary in the ministry of human resource development, and a member of the famed institute's Governing Council to investigate the mishap. Mr Rao visited the laboratory and spoke to Prof Jagadeesh and other faculty members at the Aerospace Engineering department on Thursday.
Sources said Naresh Kumar and Karthik Shenoy, who are on ventilator support in view of grievous injuries, are likely to be operated upon on Friday. "We are keeping our fingers crossed as doctors said the next 48 hours are crucial for both of them," sources added. They were operated upon soon after they were rushed to the hospital on Wednesday for removal from their body, of fragments of the hydrogen cylinder.
