Hundreds of people from different communities participated in the funeral service of the eight children, who were killed in a road accident at Trasi, in Udupi district on Thursday. The services were held in churches at Gangolli and Tallur villages.
The students of Don Bosco School were killed when a private bus rammed their van at Trasi on Tuesday.
The funeral services of Calista Olivera (6) and Clarissa Olivera (12), children of Stephen and Rita Olivera; Alvita Olivera (8) and Ancita Olivera (6) daughters of Alwyn and Reshma Olivera; and Delwin Dais (5), son of Vinod and Defhni Dias, were held at Immaculate Conception Church at Gangolli at 11 a.m.
The funeral services of Nikhita D’Silva (12) and Ananya D’Silva (6), daughters of Lloyd and Marina D’Silva; and Royston Lobo (5), son of Vinod and Shanthi Lobo, were held at St. Francis Assisi Church at Tallur at 4 p.m.
Regardless of the rain, a large number of people from nearby and distant places turned up to attend the funeral. The parents and relatives of the deceased children were inconsolable in their grief.
In his introduction to the mass at Gangolli, Most Rev. Dr. Gerald Isaac Lobo, Bishop of Udupi Catholic Diocese, quoted Rabindranath Tagore’s poem in Konkani: Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! I fear lest it droop and drop into the dust.
The villages of Muvatumadi, Hemmady and Trasi were in a somber mood and a state of mourning. When the bodies of the children were being taken to the churches, hundreds of people lined both sides of the road and paid their last respects. Arrangements were made for the public to view the deceased for the last time en-route to the churches.
At Gangolli church, Rev. Fr. Anil D’Souza, Dean of Kundapur Deanery, delivered the homily, while at Tallur church, Walter Mendoca, parish priest, St. Anthony’s Church, Sasthan, delivered the homily. Shobha Karandlaje, MP, Vinay Kumar Sorake, Kaup MLA, Ivan D’Souza, MLC, and K. Annamalai, Superintendent of Police, were present.
