A 70-year-old man from Jharkhand “died of anxiety” on Tuesday night, according to his family, a few hours before his son and 40 other workers who were trapped in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand were evacuated.
Relatives of Baset alias Barsa Murmu said on Wednesday that since learning of the tunnel collapse on November 12, he had been worried about his 28-year-old son Bhaktu.
Twelve hours before Baktu could see the light at the end of the tunnel, Murmu, a resident of Bahda village in the East Singhbhum district, passed away on Tuesday morning while he was sitting on his cot.
When contacted, representatives of the local government stated that while a heart attack is thought to have been Murmu’s cause of death, they have not yet verified this information.
Piti Murmu, Bhaktu’s mother, has been silent since Tuesday.
Being present when the septuagenarian passed away, Murmu’s son-in-law Thakar Hansda said he was worried about his son’s welfare and that’s why he abruptly fell off the cot and died.
According to the family members, Murmu waited eagerly to hear about his son’s evacuation.
When Sanjeevan Oraon, the officer-in-charge of the Dumaria police station, visited the victim’s home, he stated that the cause of the death was unknown.
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