The seventh and last member of a South Australian family involved in a car accident in India has died.
Rupen Datta, 48, died in an Indian hospital more than two weeks after his wife, Animika, 45, daughters Nikita and Pipasa, aged 8 and 12, and sister-in-law Sonali, were killed while driving from Delhi to the Taj Mahal.
The Dattas’ 17-year-old son, Digvijoy, died in hospital a short time after the accident.
It is believed a burst tyre caused the car they were travelling in to smash through a road barrier and flip onto its roof.
His father-in-law — who initially survived the crash — later suffered a fatal heart attack in hospital upon the news of his family members’ deaths.
Family friend Raja Chaudhuri said Rupen never came out of a coma.
“He will be remembered as the finest ever gentleman,” he said.
“He was such a family person and had such a magnificent life, so kind.
“All of the adjectives in the English dictionary would not be good enough to describe him.”
Days after news of the tragedy emerged, about 200 people gathered to pay their respects to the family at the restaurant they ran, Urban India, on Henley Beach Road at Mile End in Adelaide’s western suburbs.
Dozens more spilled out onto the street to take part in the traditional Hindu service.
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
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Top Comments
Unbelievably tragic.