Orphaned 5-year old Tamil girl awaits family while battling for life in UK hospital

5-year-old Shravanthi, perhaps, does not even know what has happened to her parents. She is already going through a lot of pain, but doctors worry more about how to handle her when she comes to term with the tragedy. Orphaned in a road accident in UK, the girl is battling for her life in the Intensive Care Unit of the Birmingham Children's Hospital. 

Shravanthi's parents Karthikeyan Ramasubramaniam Pugalur and Lavanya Lakshmi were travelling in that minibus on that ill-fated day when the horrific accident took place at Newport Pagnell near Buckinghamshire. The minibus they were travelling in collided with two lorries, killing eight persons on the spot. Among the dead were two women. Five others who were seriously injured were taken to the hospital immediately. The minibus was transporting a group of IT professionals and their family members to the London from Nottingham to board the Eurostar train to Paris. 

Upon receiving the news of the demise of Karthikeyan and Lavanya, the family members of the kid applied for an urgent visa to the U.K. Meanwhile, authorities at the Birmingham Children's Hospital have written to the British High Commission saying she had suffered "serious and significant" injuries and was in a life-threatening situation. The girl was likely to remain in the ICU in the short-term. The letter further added, "We have been made aware by the police that Shravanthi’s parents unfortunately died in the accident and that she has no other family member in the U.K. This letter is being provided to facilitate immediate/extended family members’ visit to U.K. and support the girl at the bedside."

The doctors at the hospital, however, refused to disclose details about the girl or about the status of her health. Meanwhile, a close relative of the survivor, Sai Shankar, said he had requested a local family to take care of her. Speaking to the Hindu, he said, "We have applied for visa and intend to travel to London tomorrow (Tuesday). I really don’t know how to go about the things there...the bodies of Karthikeyan and Lavanya have to be brought to India. The family moved to Nottingham less than a year ago after Karthikeyan was sent on deputation there by Wipro."

Their case is not the lone incident. Another Wipro employee Mano Ranjan Pannerselvam and his wife Sangeetha survived the accident with serious injuries. But they are said to be out of danger now. However, Manoranjan's father-Panneerselvam- and two close relatives were killed in the accident. Dr Shankar, the son-in-law of Panneerselvam, said he had applied for a visa along with a letter from the London Metropolitan Police was was hopeful of getting the visa on Monday. Thanking Wipro for arranging the accomodation and travel of the employees, he said, "I was asked to collect my passport today. But they didn’t grant visa till late on Monday. I have cancelled my ticket to London scheduled on Tuesday."

Further, helping the victims and their families is the World Tamil Organisation, which is in constant touch with the Indian High Commission to ensure that the victims get the required support. The organisation informed that the kin of the victims could contact the Thames Valley Police for any information by citing URN 214 of 26/8 as reference to the road accident. Meanwhile, WTO president Jacob Ravibalan said, "We have handled formalities of at least 38 such repatriations in the past and our teams will assist the families in as many ways as possible to overcome the huge loss and transporting the dead to their respective destinations."
 

• tamil nadu
• south
• united kingdom
• child
• uk highway accident
• indian embassy