Parents wait for body of Pakistani man who died at Chennai hospital

The parents of a 23-year-old Pakistani man who died during treatment at a Chennai hospital were still waiting on 30 April, Wednesday, for the body as the airline which was scheduled to carry it landed without it.

It was reported on Tuesday, 29 April, that the body of Syed Aryan Shah was brought to Karachi after his mother appealed to the government for help after the Pahalgam attack.

The airline was supposed to bring the body on Tuesday.

"They (airlines) were supposed to bring his body on Tuesday evening to Karachi. The flight arrived without the body because of some operational and logistical issues,” Saima Shah, Aryan's mother, said.

Aryan was suffering from heart and severe lung ailments and was on life support for respiratory failure at the MGM Healthcare hospital in Chennai. He died on 25 April.

Aryan’s mother said that after she had appealed to the Pakistan government to help her clear the hospital bills and also arrange for transportation of the body to Karachi, the Balochistan government had come to her rescue by coordinating with the foreign ministry and arranging to transport the body from Chennai to Colombo.

His mother had flown with Aryan to Chennai and got him admitted there on 12 February for his urgent treatment.

The situation became difficult for the Pakistani family after India directed all Pakistani nationals holding visitor medical visas to leave the country by 29 April in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack on 22 April in which 26 people were killed.

“Since the family belongs to Quetta, the Balochistan government contacted the foreign office, and we cleared all the medical bills to get the body release. We have also made all travel arrangements to fly the body back to Karachi,” Shahid Rind, a spokesperson for the government, said.

Rind said the plan was to bring the body by road from Karachi to Quetta by Wednesday, 30 April, for burial.

The airlines have assured the body will be brought to Karachi as soon as possible, but haven't provided a schedule.

According to media reports, Aryan Shah had been suffering from interstitial lung disease and was put on ECMO support for the last 70 days.

After all existing Indian visas issued to Pakistani nationals were revoked, some families from Pakistan who were in Chennai or New Delhi for the treatment of their children had to cancel their plans and return home.

This week, two families from Karachi returned home from New Delhi without completing the treatment of their sons.

In one case, two boys aged 9 and 7 had to return home without undergoing a procedure for the heart defect they were born with.

Chennai and New Delhi have long been destinations for Pakistanis who are looking for advanced tertiary medical care at affordable costs.