Flood in the Indian state of Kerala has claimed life of a Dubai expat. Razak Akkiparambil, a support staff of a school in Dubai, died after rescuing two children, including his son, who were caught in flood water.

The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon, Razak’s brother-in-law Shareef, said over the phone from Malappuram district, which is among the worst-hit regions.

“Razak had come to Kerala for his daughter’s marriage, which was held on August 4. The family had come to my home. The incident happened around 2.30 pm (IST). He saw these kids walk down to the water-filled paddy fields. It’s now filled up to the height of two people and soon these kids were in deep. As soon as Razak saw the kids were in danger, he rushed and jumped into the water to save them. He managed to hand over two kids safely to another person. But he couldn’t come out as there was a strong undercurrent. He is just 42 years but couldn’t cope with the sudden rush of water and collapsed. And as everyone was focusing on kids, no one noticed Razak drowning. He was pulled out of the water only after 15 minutes. We rushed him to a hospital but the doctor said he passed away before reaching there,” said Shareef, who works at Our Own English High School.

“We both work in the same school. Razak is there for some 10 years now. We had travelled together to Kerala for the marriage.”

Razak, a father of three, is survived by his family. They are devastated with the news of his untimely death.

“They were already affected by flood last year. They had somehow managed to renovate their house for the wedding. But again were hit by floods from last week. Luckily the wedding went well. It was his big dream. Now he is no more. The cremation will be tomorrow.”

ashwani@kjhaleejtimes.com

source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com / Khaleej Times / Home> UAE> Dubai / by Ashwani Kumar, Dubai / August 14th, 2019