Indian-origin couple, daughter killed in US car crash; teenage son sole survivor
Houston, Aug 18: In a tragic incident, an Indian-origin couple and their teenage daughter were killed in a road accident while driving her to college in the US state of Texas, leaving behind their 14-year-old son as the lone survivor.
Arvind Mani (45), his wife Pradeepa Arvind (40) and their 17-year-old daughter Andril Arvind, who all were from Leander, were killed in the car crash on Wednesday near Lampasas County in Texas, the Austin American Statesman reported.
Their only surviving immediate family member, son Adiryan (14), was not in the vehicle with them.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, a 2004 Cadillac CTS driven by 31-year-old Jacinto Gudino Duran, of Copperas Cove, was heading southbound on US Route 281 at the same time a 2024 Kia Telluride, operated by Mani, was heading northbound.
Evidence at the scene showed the right rear tyre of the Cadillac had a blowout, crash investigators were quoted as saying by FOX10TV.com.
Witnesses claimed the vehicle passed them at a high speed before the collision.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said the blowout caused the driver of the Cadillac to lose control and cross over to the northbound lane into the Kia’s path.
The Kia crashed into the passenger side of Cadillac, causing extensive damage to both vehicles, officials said.
"It is one of the worst crashes I have seen in 26 years because of the magnitude of the damage and amount of people lost," said Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Bryan Washko.
Twenty-three-year-old Yosilu Gasman Martinez-Lopez, of Copperas Cove, was identified as a passenger in the Cadillac.
There were two passengers in the Kia at the time, named Pradeepa and Andril.
All five people in both vehicles were pronounced dead at the scene.
Mani and his wife were driving their daughter to college in North Texas and had left their son behind because he started school that day, Washko said.
Andril graduated from Rouse High School and was going to attend the University of Dallas, where she planned to study computer science, according to the GoFundMe set up for her brother.
"The Rouse High School family is deeply saddened to share the loss of one of our very own Raiders from the Class of 2024, Andril Arvind," said a letter sent to parents from the school's principal.
"Andril and her parents were involved in an automobile accident this morning, and we are sad to share that there were no survivors. This news has brought great sorrow to our campus and has impacted many in our community. Our thoughts and prayers are with Andril’s family and friends."
As of Saturday, more than USD 758,000 has been raised to support the family’s surviving member Adiryan, who just started ninth grade, according to the GoFundMe organiser.
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Bhopal gas tragedy: Effects of leak seen in next generation of survivors, says ex-forensic doctor
Bhopal (PTI): The effects of poisonous gases that leaked from the Union Carbide factory in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal 40 years ago were seen in the next generations of those who survived the tragedy, a former government forensic doctor has said.
At least 3,787 people were killed, and more than five lakh were affected after a toxic gas leaked from the pesticide factory in the city on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984.
Speaking at an event held by organisations of gas tragedy survivors on Saturday, Dr D K Satpathy, former head of the forensics department of Bhopal's Gandhi Medical College, said he performed 875 post-mortems on the first day of the disaster and witnessed 18,000 autopsies the next five years.
Sathpathy claimed Union Carbide had denied questions about the effects of poisonous gases on unborn children of women survivors and said effects would not cross the placental barrier in the womb in any condition.
He said blood samples of pregnant women who died in the tragedy were examined, and it was found that 50 per cent of poisonous substances found in the mother were also found in the child in her womb.
Children born to surviving mothers had the poisonous substances in their system, and this affected the health of the next generation, Sathpathy claimed and questioned why research on this was stopped.
Such effects will continue for generations, he said.
Satpathy said it was said that MIC gas leaked from the Union Carbide plant, and when it came in contact with water, thousands of gases were formed, and some of these caused cancer, blood pressure and liver damage.
Rachna Dhingra of Bhopal Group for Information and Action said Satpathy, who carried out most autopsies, and other first responders in the 1984 disaster, including the senior doctors in the emergency ward and persons involved in mass burials, narrated their experiences during the event.
Rashida Bee, president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh, a poster exhibition covering every aspect of the disaster will be held till December 4 to mark the 40th anniversary of the tragedy.
An anniversary rally will be organised, with focus on global corporate crimes such as industrial pollution and climate change, she said.
