Twenty-Four-year-old Janardan Yadav is struggling to bring home the body of his father Surya Dev Yadav who died in an explosion at a Luanda-based firm in Angola where he was working for the past seven years. The private firm — Best Angola Metal Group — has written to the family and demanded Rs 16 lakh (USD 25,000) for the transportation. Even the hospital where Surya Dev was admitted said it cannot keep the body anymore, the firm has written in its letter to the family. A worried Yadav’s family has now approached the Prime Minister’s Office, besides the President and the Chief Minister’s Office, for help. Janardhan, Surya Dev’s eldest son, said his family has also met Deoria district magistrate to help them contact the concerned ministries. A native of village Harania in Deoria, Surya Dev was working in Angola as a gas cutter at the said firm. He had last visited his village 18 months ago. Yadav is survived by his wife Savitri Devi and four children. Savitri said she last spoke to her husband on the morning of November 26. He had promised to call back in the evening but that call never came, she said. “Next day, one of my husband’s colleagues called up to inform that he (Surya Dev) has suffered serious burn injuries in an explosion while working, and is admitted to the hospital. We tried to contact the company but no one responded. Later, we learnt that my husband had died on December 1,” Savitri said. Since then, the family has been making efforts to bring Surya Dev’s body home. When nothing seemed to work, it family contacted a local resident, an advocate O P Srivastava, for help in communicating with the company and the Indian embassy in Angola. Srivastava, speaking to this correspondent, said he is in regular contact with the officials of the company and the Indian embassy there. The embassy has assured they were making all efforts to send the body to India. According to Srivastava, the company claims it is yet to receive the certificate from authorities, including the Provincial Direction of Criminal investigation, which is compulsory for transportation services through airlines. The company says that the condition of the body is getting worse, which could be prohibiting the government agencies refusing from issue the certificate. It, however, says the family has to pay the full payment to be spent on transportation as per the company agreement, said Srivastava.
