Patna: A marine engineer from Bihar’s Gopalganj district was killed after two UAE-linked tankers came under a missile attack near the Strait of Hormuz, the UAE ministry of defence confirmed.Sonu Kumar Gupta, a resident of Videshi Tola in Thawe market under Thawe police station in Gopalganj had completed his mechanical engineering studies in Kolkata and joined a Dubai-based company in 2020.Four years later, he started working as a marine engineer with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).His family received the information on Tuesday morning that the vessel on which Sonu was deployed had been hit during the attack near the Strait of Hormuz. They were told that he suffered critical injuries and later died.“I received a call around 4 am on Tuesday from my brother’s company and they informed me that Sonu had been injured after a missile struck the ship on which he was serving near Saudi Arabia. An hour later, they called again to tell us that he had succumbed to his injuries,” Sonu’s elder brother, Alok Gupta, told TOI.The UAE ministry of defence said two Emirati tankers were struck by Iranian cruise missiles while passing through the southern shipping lane in Omani territorial waters. According to the ministry, one Indian crew member was killed and eight others, including six Indians and two Ukrainians, were injured.Family members said Sonu had resumed duty only about 20 days ago after spending his leave at home in Gopalganj. News of his death plunged the family and the locality into mourning with relatives and neighbours gathering at his residence to offer condolences.Holding back tears, Alok appealed to the govt to help bring his brother’s body home.“Our only request to the govt is to ensure that my brother’s body is brought back to India safely. We just want his mortal remains to reach us. We cannot believe he is no longer with us. He had promised to return,” he said.The family is now awaiting the completion of official formalities, and the repatriation of Sonu’s mortal remains from West Asia.
