Dubai: A young tour guide from India died at Aquaventure Waterpark in Atlantis hotel resort in Dubai, leaving a tourist group of 46 in shock.
Kaushal Kumar Bagadia was found dead on a lounge chair at the waterpark on Wednesday evening, one of tourists told Gulf News on Sunday.
The death certificate said it was a natural death due to heart disease, as per the forensic report, said Kalpana Agarwal.
Tragedy struck the group from Mumbai on the last day of their five-day tour in Dubai.
She said the group had reached on January 5 and had a nice time here.
“We checked into Atlantis on January 9 and checked out the next day. We were supposed to meet Kaushal at the lobby at 5pm and he didn’t turn up.”
When he didn’t report, the group members realised that something has gone wrong. When they inquired, Kalpana said, they got to know about the death of a person at the water park.
“What is surprising is that some of our group members’ children, who were playing in the water rides, did not recognise Kaushal. His body and face were swollen.”
She said she suspected that he might have suffered a heart attack after a water ride.
One of the women in the group, Rachna Agarwal, tweeted to Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj seeking help for repatriating the body of Bagadia.
Following the minister’s tweet condoling the death and deputing it to assist the group, the Indian Consulate in Dubai stepped in and assigned social worker Naseer Vatanappally to assist them with the repatriation procedures.
“We worked with the departments concerned over the weekend and we have managed to get all the paper works done,” said Vatanappally.
He said the body was scheduled to be flown by an 11.30pm flight on Sunday. “The consulate has agreed to pay for the tickets for sending the body and one person accompanying it.”
All the tourists except Kalpana Agarwal, her son and brother-in-law, had returned home while the three stayed back to assist in repatriation of the body.
“We want to thank Dubai Police and the social worker and the Indian consulate for supporting us,” said Agarwal.
Bagadia was a divorcee and survived only by his aged parents back home. “I am still in shock. I know him since his childhood. He studied with my children and I have gone on many tours with him,” Agarwal said.
