Ghaziabad woman dies after rioters torch hotel in Nepal | Lucknow News

Lucknow: A religious trip to Nepal turned tragic for a Ghaziabad couple. Transporter Ramveer Singh Gola (58) and his wife Rajesh Devi, 55, had travelled to Kathmandu on Sept 7 to visit the Pashupatinath temple but were caught in the crossfire when their five-star hotel was torched by rioters on the night of Sept 9.With smoke and flames cutting off escape routes, rescue teams placed mattresses below the building and urged stranded guests to jump. Ramveer and Devi leapt from the fourth floor. While Ramveer survived with minor injuries, Devi suffered grievous spinal injuries. She was admitted to a hospital in Kathmandu but succumbed to injuries on Sept 10 night.Devi’s mortal remains were brought through the Sonauli border in Maharajganj to her home in Ghaziabad on Thursday, where the last rites will be performed on Friday. Devi’s elder son Vishal told reporters that his parents were elated after offering prayers at the Pashupatinath temple on Sept 8. “They even video-called us to show Kathmandu’s sights. But on Sept 9 night, chaos erupted. The mob stormed the hotel and set it on fire. As the stairways got filled with smoke, my father broke the windowpane, tied sheets and jumped onto a mattress. My mother slipped while trying to climb down and fell heavily on her back,” he said.Vishal added that communication blackouts made locating his parents nearly impossible. “For two days we didn’t know about their whereabouts. Finally, my father was found in a relief camp, but my mother died in hospital. Embassy support was minimal and local rescue came very late,” he alleged.Speaking at Sonauli border, a visibly shaken Ramveer said, “We came only to offer prayers at Pashupatinath. But rioters torched our hotel. Thousands of Indian tourists are stranded in Nepal, mostly from Delhi, Rajasthan, MP, Uttarakhand.”