Eight tourists from Kerala who were holidaying in Nepal found dead in a hotel room. They are believed to have died due to a possible gas leak from the heater used in their room.

The deceased include four children. They have been identified as Prabin Kumar Nair (39), Saranya (34), Ranjith Kumar T B (39), Indu Ranjith (34), Sreebadra (9), Abhinav Surya (9), Abhi Nair (7) and Vaishnav Ranjith (2).

The deceased people were part of a group of 15 people traveling from Kerala to Pokhara. They checked in at the resort at 9.30 pm last night on their way back after visiting Pokhara. Although they had booked a total of four rooms, eight of them stayed in a room and while seven others in the team stayed in an adjacent room, the manager said.

All the eight tourists were found unconscious in the locked suite by the hostel staff in the early morning of Tuesday. Though they were airlifted to the hospital, they were declared dead by the arrival time. Their dead bodies are now kept at a hospital in Kathmandu.

Reportedly the tourists turned on a gas heater to keep themselves warm from extreme cold weather. All the windows and doors of the room were bolted from inside. Police presumed that the guests may have died due to lack of ventilation and that there could have been possible asphyxiation.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the death of the Malayali tourists in Nepal. Based on the direction of Kerala CM, the Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) is in touch with the Indian Embassy in Nepal. It is expected that after the autopsy, the bodies will be brought to Kerala tomorrow.