Kin mourn 3 Indians killed in US strike on vessel near Oman, demand formal probe

THe tierce amerindic seafarers who died in the US military machine walk out on the Palau-flagged commercial message vessel MT Settebello off the Oman coast on Wednesday were from different parts of India, but they were working in foreign waters to fulfil one dream: giving their families a better life.Marine engineer Patnala Suresh, 44, from Visakhapatnam, Shivanand Chaurasia, 38, from Surauli village in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria and Aditya Sharma, 23, from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh were initially reported missing but were later confirmed to have died; 21 other Indian crew members were rescued. Originally bound to a six-month contract that should have seen him sign off on May 24, Sharma had reluctantly extended his stay by two months solely to finish half of his required training before coming home. He had a degree in nautical science from a university in Scotland. The final text message his father Rajesh Sharma, received from his son arrived just an hour before the MT Settebello was struck.“On Wednesday, we waited the entire day for his call. Later, around 9pm, we received information that the vessel had been attacked and that three crew members were missing,” the father said.Speaking to reporters, he demanded a formal investigation into the circumstances that led to the death of his son, along with two crew members. “I appeal to MP Anurag Thakur, [Himachal Pradesh] CM Sukhu, EAM Dr S Jaishankar and PM Modi to help me get the mortal remains of my child. I want to know what the circumstances were that led to the death of three people. It must be investigated why the Captain of the ship decided to take the ship towards the risk zone?”Avinash Maurya, the Surauli station house officer, said Shivanand was the elder son of Ramji Chaurasia. He is survived by his mother Kalawati Devi (60), his wife Susheela Devi (31), a seven-year-old son Rajveer, and a two-year-old daughter Vamika.Speaking to reporters, Ramji Chaurasia, a farmer who also runs a paan shop, said Shivanand’s last phone call was made to his wife on June 9. Since then, his phone was unreachable.Ramji said his younger son, Ram Parvesh Chaurasia, works with a private firm in Dubai, which is also located in a region facing security concerns.The news about the death of Patnala Suresh, who was the chief engineer on board the vessel, reached the family at around 1pm on Thursday. “Though I had received the message about the drone attack on the marine ship yesterday night, the confirmation about my husband’s death came at around 1pm this afternoon,” Suresh’s wife Bhargavi told reporters. Suresh is also survived by his two young sons, aged 13 and 10.“We are expecting his arrival in a week. We are supposed to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary on June 24,” Bhargavi said.