A pilgrimage that was meant to be sacred turned into a heartbreaking tragedy for a Ghaziabad couple in Kathmandu. Rajesh Gola and her husband, Ramvir Singh Gola from Ghaziabad, had travelled to Nepal earlier this week to offer prayers at the revered Pashupatinath Temple.
Like countless Indian devotees, they had hoped for a peaceful spiritual journey, but what awaited them was unimaginable.
The couple checked into the Hyatt Regency in Kathmandu, unaware that violent anti-government protests were brewing in the city. On September 7, demonstrations escalated, and curfew was imposed across the capital.
Believing the unrest would soon subside, Rajesh and Ramvir decided to extend their stay at the hotel instead of proceeding to Mithila as planned. But on the evening of September 9, their worst fears came true.
Around 6 pm, protesters stormed into the area and set the Hyatt Regency ablaze. Caught in the chaos, with fire and smoke quickly engulfing the building, the couple made a desperate attempt to save their lives.
Breaking the window glass of their fourth-floor room, Ramvir and Rajesh tied together bedsheets and jumped. Ramvir survived the fall with injuries, but Rajesh, though alive initially, succumbed to her injuries later during treatment.
On Friday morning, Ramvir returned home carrying the body of his wife, the devastating journey marking the end of what was supposed to be a pilgrimage.
Ramvir recounted the harrowing ordeal: “We had gone to Kathmandu to pray at Pashupatinath Temple. Later, we planned to visit Mithila, but due to curfew, we stayed back at the Hyatt. On September 9, the protesters set the hotel on fire.
We were left with no choice but to jump. My wife could not survive… and no one came to help us — not the Embassy, not the army, not the police. I will never step into Nepal again.”
Their son, Vishal Singh Gola, said that the family received news of the fire around midnight on September 10. Describing his parents’ desperate escape, he said: “My father broke the glass panel and they jumped down using a bedsheet. Initially, my mother was fine, but they got separated in the confusion.
She panicked. Had they remained together, she might have survived. We always believed Hyatt, being such a reputable hotel, would be safe. But there was no support, not even from the Embassy. We had to use our personal contacts to bring her body back.”
Another relative, Vipin Kumar, revealed the anguish of those hours. “After the couple was separated, it took Ramvir nearly three hours to locate his wife. By the time he found her, she was gone.”
The tragedy has not only devastated the Gola family but has also raised serious questions about safety, crisis management, and the absence of timely intervention during emergencies in foreign lands. For Ramvir and his family, the memory of this ill-fated trip will remain etched forever as a painful reminder of loss amidst flames and chaos.
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