Keralite nurse, toddler killed in Libya

Sunu Sathyan and her son Pranav were killed in the rocket attack on their apartment block on Friday at around 4 pm in Zawiya city, 45 km from Libyan capital Tripoli, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said. 

“On 25 March 2016, around 4 pm Sunu Sathyan an Indian nurse from Kerala and her son Pranav were killed when a rocket (hit) their apartment. “We have got in touch with her husband Vipin Kumar. There are 26 more Indians working in Zawiya hospital,” Swaraj said in a series of tweets. 

Sonu and the toddler were sleeping in their house when it was rocked by the explosion, her father Sathyan Nair, hailing from Kondadu in Kottayam district, said. 

The victim was working as a nurse in Zawiya Medical centre AZ Zawiya, Libya. Her husband Vipin, who is a male nurse in Libya, was away on duty. 

The External Affairs Minister made a fresh appeal, urging people in conflict zones to move out. “We have issued advisories many times. I request you once again — Please move out of the conflict zones,” she said. 

Nair has sought Kerala government’s help to bring back the mortal remains of his daughter and grandson. “On Friday I got information through phone that my daughter and her one and-a-half-year-old baby died in a bomb blast at her residence while they were sleeping,” he said in his letter.