Praveen, Ranjith were friends, Nepal tour arranged following

Both IT professionals, Praveen Krishnan Nair and Ranjith Kumar Adatholath Punathil were engineering college classmates and friends and the ill fated tour to Nepal was arranged following a get-together with alumni in Delhi,family members said. Praveen, his wife and three children besides Ranjit, his wife and minor son died after they fell unconscious probably due to a gas leak from a heater in their room at a mountainous resort, police said, amid cold wave in the Himalayan region.

Praveen, who hails from Chempazhanthi in Thiruvananthapuram, was an engineer in Dubai, while his wife, Saranya, a nursing student, was staying at Kochi along with their 3 children. A neighbour said Praveen and family had visited their home here where his aged parents are staying, during the Onam festival in September last year and were active in all functions.

A family friend said Praveen's parents were only told that they had met with an accident. "We have not told them about the tragedy that had befallen," he told television channels.

Ranjith was working in an IT firm at Thiruvananthapuram, while his wife, Indu, an accountant in a cooperative bank at Kozhikode, a family member said. Ranjith's elder son Madhav had a lucky escape as he was sleeping in another room, according to a family member.

They were part of a 15-member group from Kerala to Pokhara, a popular mountainous tourist destination. The victims were identified as Praveen Krishnan Nair, Saranya Sasi, Sreebhadra Praveen, Aarcha Praveen, Abhinav Saranya Nair, Ranjith Kumar Adatholath Punathil, Indu Lakshmi Peethambaran Ragalatha and Vyshnav Ranjith.

Expressing shock over the tragedy, Kerala tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran said the government has given directions to the state DGP to get in touch with the Nepal police and take necessary steps. "Also talked to union minister V Muraleedharan over phone. He ensured all necessary intervention to bring the remains to the state as early as possible," he added..