CHENNAI: Family members of Ilavarasan (43), of Kasimedu, and Tamilselvan (52), of Tuticorin, stood in the scorching sun for hours at the Anna International Airport to collect the dead bodies that arrived from Kuwait on Thursday.According to the families, both men were working as contract labourers for an oil company in Kuwait and died during maintenance work, when a high-pressure oil compressor exploded.It was heart-rending to see one of Ilavarasan’s brothers in tears when they collected the 43-year-old’s two suitcases. Hailing from the community of fishermen and born to a family of nine siblings in Kasimedu, Ilavarasan, who did odd jobs as an electrician, went to Kuwait, as he wanted to give a better life to his two children Abhinaya (15) and Ashwin Kumar (12). He began work there in mid-2010 and visited his family once in July 2011. The news on April 8, that Ilavarasan was in a critical stage after an accident while at work shattered the family. Minutes later they heard that he had succumbed to burn injuries. “I spoke to him just the day before the incident and he had spoken to his daughter before the accident. I never thought he would come back like this,” said Tamilarasan, brother of Ilavarasan. He said that as per his brother’s wishes, the two kids excelled in studies and Abhinaya appeared for her Class X Board exams on Thursday even as her father arrived in a coffin.Ilavarasan’s childhood friend Jai wept as he recalled, “Three days before the incident I could not talk to him over the phone as I got busy with work. He got angry and mailed me asking if I am alive. Every Sunday he would call me sharp at 10 am after talking to his daughter. On April 8, I never got a call.”Maya, brother-in-law of mechanic and fitter, Tamilselvan, who also died in the same accident, said Indra, wife of the 52-year-old and son Deepak, a trainee marine engineer, were waiting for his body in Tuticorin. Members of both the families claimed they received temporary monetary relief and hoped that they would soon get suitable compensation.
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