The mortal remains of Nagaraju Surepalli, a techie hailing from Andhra Pradesh, and his three-year-old son, who drowned in a swimming pool in Michigan, the US, on Wednesday, will be brought to India by June 6.
A gofundme page started by Nagaraju's friends has now raised $146,448 and an update from the article read - "The autopsy has been done and they will handover the mortal remains to a funeral home to prepare for travel to India, as of now the estimated date to reach India is by Tuesday (6/6) next week."
The deceased were from Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh. Reports say that the incident came to light on Wednesday morning when a couple walking by the pool peeped into the water and found two bodies. They immediately called 911, after which police reached at the spot. After seeing a drowned tricycle and a few other toys at the pool's bed, they figured that the child and father had been playing when the incident occurred.
"The man entered into the five-feet deep pool to rescue his son but accidentally drowned himself. The pool does not staff a lifeguard and they were the only occupants in the pool at that time," a police statement said. Some reports also quoted American Telangana Association (ATA) president Ram Mohan Reddy Konda saying that efforts were being made to help the family members of the deceased.
"Everyone who knows Naga would agree that he was one of the most jovial, honest, friendly person you would ever meet and always smiling," said his friends in a report on the fundraising website.
"In the midst of this tragedy, we've set up this fund to help them with the funeral expenses and other ongoing grief/recovery support costs. This includes the very expensive process of carrying their mortal remains back to India. Please find it in your heart to donate as any little amount you can and it will be a great help to the grieving family," read the gofundme article.
The campaign states that the money collected will be given to Naga's wife Bindu.
