The twenty-first victim of the tragic White Island eruption that shook the world in December last year is reported to be an Indian-American tourist, whose wife had already deceased in late December in Auckland hospital.
Police has confirmed a further death due to the Whakaari Island eruption on Tuesday, January 28.
NZ Herald has reported that the deceased is identified as Pratap ‘Paul’ Singh by US news outlet Patch.com, who had suffered 40 per cent burns and was admitted at Middlemore Hospital.
New Zealand Police is yet to release the name of the deceased.
The Indian Weekender has reliably learnt that Pratap’s family who have been stationed in Auckland since last month are planning to take him back to India for the last rites.
Earlier, Pratap’s wife Mayuri Singh, who had suffered 70 per cent burns and had died of her injuries on December 22 last year. She was repatriated back to Atlanta where her family has been living for at least two generations.
Pratap has been living in America along with his two brothers and their families for around 30 years.
As per news outlet WSB, the couple’s three children and Mayuri’s mother had stayed back on the ship and were not injured when the volcano erupted. The couple owned several businesses and gave to charity.
A friend of deceased Pratap Singh from the United States posted on Facebook of a prayer meeting in his memory.
“Along with his wife, he was injured on Dec-07 during the volcanic eruption in New Zealand while the family was cruising in Australia and New Zealand. Mayuri ji attained Sadgati on Dec-22, and Pratap ji left his body in the morning,” Swadesh Katoch from the US posted on Facebook.
This brings the total number of death to 21, 19 of whom died in New Zealand and two in Australia. Police confirmed the 19th and 20th fatality earlier this month as tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman and teenage Australian tourist Winona Langford whose bodies have not been located.
Twenty-three people now remain in New Zealand and Australia hospitals of which three remain critical in New Zealand hospitals.
The pair leave three children behind, an 11-year-old son and 6-year-old twins.
As per Mr Katoch, Mr Singh came to the United States with no money or degrees but worked really hard to make a name for himself. He was known for his philanthropic work in Atlanta, especially in the African-American community.
He was instrumental behind getting Baba Ramdev to the Atlanta for spiritual sessions, was a prominent contributor of Sewa International’s Sponsor-a-Child project in India, and supported many Hindu temples in Atlanta especially ISKCON.
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