Mix up: Kin of Kerala man receive body of TN man from UAE

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, 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 AI flight. “His (Kottaron’s) parents were desperately waiting for the mortal remains for the last one week,” a relative was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, an embassy official said, “Our officials at the Tamil Nadu branch Secretariat of the Ministry of External Affairs are trying to get in contact with the family members of Krishnan. Once procedures are cleared locally, they can collect the body from Kerala.” “One of his relatives and a relative of Krishnan will accompany the body from Abu Dhabi. After obtaining clearance from the local police, they will take the body from Kerala to Tamil Nadu,” he added. A relative of Nidhin said they expect the body to be flown to Kerala by Friday night.

According to an AI official, all the necessary documents were submitted while repatriating the body. “Kottaron’s body was supposed to be sent on Air India’s Calicut-bound flight 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 that might have caused the mix up,” Air India Manager for Abu Dhabi and Al Ain sector, Ranjan Dutta was quoted as saying in the report.

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.

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