Second Indian national dies after suffering severe injuries in US house fire
New York (PTI): A second Indian national has died after suffering severe injuries in a house fire in Albany, the US authorities and the Indian mission here have said.
Anvesh Sarapelli succumbed to his injuries on Saturday, a day after the death of Sahaja Reddy Udumala, who had also suffered severe burns in the same incident.
"We are deeply saddened by the untimely demise of Mr Anvesh Sarepalli, an Indian national, who lost his life in a house fire incident in Albany. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with his family in this difficult time," the Consulate General of India in New York said in a social media post on Saturday.
The mission is in touch with his family and is providing all possible assistance, it added.
Umudala and Sarapelli were among four people found inside the home near Quail Street when police and firefighters responded to the fire on December 4.
The victims were treated at the scene by the Albany Fire Department and emergency medical personnel before being transported to Albany Medical Centre Hospital.
Umudala and Sarapelli were later transferred to the Westchester Medical Burn Centre for further treatment.
Albany Police said “tragically”, Umudala and Sarapelli both succumbed to their injuries they sustained in the fire.
The Albany Police Department had said in a statement that when they arrived at the scene, officers and firefighters found the residence fully engulfed in flames and learned that several individuals were still inside the home.
A ‘GoFundMe’ campaign has been launched by Udumala’s cousin, Rathna Gopu, to help meet funeral and memorial expenses, repatriation arrangements and other costs arising from the tragedy.
On the fundraising page, Gopu said the family had suffered an “unimaginable tragedy” with the loss of Udumala, a 24-year-old master’s student in Albany.
Udumala had sustained burns covering nearly 90 per cent of her body and “struggled immensely, fighting with all the strength she had,” Gopu wrote, adding that she died after suffering complete organ failure.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
