‘Our dreams are shattered’: Deaths in Georgia wreck homes in Punjab

MEA OFFICIALS SAID THEY WERE WORKING TO BRING THE BODIES BACK TO INDIA

- HT Correspondents

PATIALA/JALANDHAR: Amrinder Kaur moved from her family home in a remote village near Patiala to a land of unknowns nine years ago. She made the 3,000km trip to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, in 2015, and toiled at a restaurant in the Gudauri ski resort, chipping away at the barriers that stood in the way of hopes for a better future.

Those dreams were snuffed on a bitterly cold Saturday morning. Kaur (32) was among 11 Indian nationals, 10 of whom were from Punjab, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning at the Haveli restaurant in Gudauri. The deaths stunned the state and foregrounded the struggles of people from India who travel abroad in search of stability.

"She was planning her first visit since she moved to Georgia in 2015. She was very happy and was buying gifts from everyone," said Sukhwinder Singh, Kaur's 42-year-old cousin.

The other victims were identified as Ravinder Kumar (45) from Jalandhar, Sameer Kumar (26) from Khanna, Harwinder Singh (27) from Talwandi Sabo, Varinder Singh (33) from Patiala, Sandeep Singh (34) from Tarn Taran, Ravinder Singh (34) and Ravinder Singh (29), both from Sangrur, Maninder Kaur (32) from Mansa and Gagandeep Singh (24) from Moga. The identity of the 11th Indian victim is yet to be confirmed.

A Georgian national also died in the incident. All of them were employees of the restaurant, inside a ski resort.