A family picnic ended in disaster for an Indian couple when the vehicle in which they were enjoying a desert safari overturned on Tuesday evening, killing their only son instantly.
The accident took place in a desert in the Madam area of Sharjah. Sources from the Dhaid Hospital, where the boy was rushed to, confirmed that he was brought dead. “The paramedics in the ambulance had tried to revive the child. But, he was already dead,” said one official.
The four-year-old boy, Pranav, was sitting on his mother Lakshmi’s lap when the four-wheel drive in which the family was dune-bashing met with the accident’s uncle told Khaleej Times.
Pranav’s father, Arun Kumar, a television cameraman who used to work for a prominent sports channel, and his brother Ajith Kumar organized the desert safari since their uncle and family had come over for a visit from India.
While the brothers and their families traveled in one vehicle, the rest were taken in another vehicle by the tour operator for dune bashing.
“Our car had driven up a dune, and it overturned when it was going down. I think the climb down the mound was steeper than what the driver assumed, and he lost control,” said Ajith.
He said the vehicle turned turtle a couple of times, and Pranav was flung out of a side window due to the crash’s impact. He died of a head injury that caused profuse bleeding.
All others, including Ajith’s two children, escaped with minor injuries.
The Sharjah Police are investigating the case.
The family’s friends remembered Pranav as a brilliant and happy child. “They had just returned after a visit to India. That child was looking very cute after getting his head shaved in a famous temple,” said a family friend.
He said that the boy was to start schooling in two weeks. “He had got admission in Delta School in Sharjah. This was not the first time they went for the desert safari. I think they have gone for it for some four to five times. Tragically, his life was taken away like this,” he added.
The shattered parents of the child are being taken care of by relatives and friends in Sharjah. The body of Pranav is likely to be flown to the family’s hometown in Alappuzha in the south Indian state of Kerala.
