NRIs Kishan Halai and his 25-year-old fiancée Rupal Vekaria were scheduled to get married in Nairobi after departing from the capital of Maharashtra, but fate had other plans for the couple, who were among the three people killed in a hotel fire in Mumbai on Sunday.
According to Suresh Kara, sarpanch of Rampar village in Mandvi taluka of Gujarat's Kutch region, Kishan, Rupal, her mother, and sister were housed in the ground-plus-four-storey Galaxy Hotel in suburban Santacruz by the responsible airlines after their flight was postponed.
The Vekarias and Kishan Halai families come from the Rampar village. On Sunday afternoon, a fire that started on the third floor of the hotel killed three people: Kishan Halai (age 28), Rupal Vekaria (age 25), and Kantilal Vara (age 50). Officials reported that Aslam Sheikh (48), Alpa (19), and Manjulaben (49), Rupal's mother, were among those hurt in the event.
"Kishan Halai and his fiancée Rupal Vekaria were settled in Nairobi for several years," said Kara.
Kantilal Vara, the victim, was unrelated to Vekarias and Kishan.
Kara claims that despite moving overseas many years ago, the families of Kishan and Rupal have kept ties to their ancestral home. In Rampar village, their ancestral homes are still standing.
"Kishan and Rupal were engaged and were planning to get married soon after reaching Nairobi, where they were residing for many years with their parents and siblings. Kishan, Rupal, and their families came to India nearly a month back to attend the wedding of Kishan's younger brother in the village. The newly-married couple along with Kishan's parents had left for Kenya a week back," said Kara.
In Rampar village, he claimed, Kishan's grandparents still reside. Rupal was born in Nairobi, as opposed to Kishan, who was born and raised in the village until he was a teenager. When Kishan was about 13 years old, his parents relocated to Nairobi, Kara continued.
The sarpanch informed Kishan, Rupal, her parents, and her sister that they intended to depart India on Saturday after completing their shopping and visiting family in Gujarat.
"They all reached Mumbai from Ahmedabad on Saturday to board a flight for Nairobi. As the flight was rescheduled, the airline accommodated them in a nearby hotel in Santacruz where the fire erupted on Sunday," said Kara.
He stated that the Vekaria family would select the site for the funeral ceremonies.
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