Dina Deve’s dad falls and passes out before funeral

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KAMPAR: The death of 11-year-old N. Dina Deve was just too much to bear for her father T. Nathan.

Dina Deve: Was buried at the Kampar Hindu cemetery Wednesday.

Since learning of his daughter’s death in the Kuala Dipang suspension bridge collapse, Nathan had not eaten and yesterday morning, the 45-year-old fell and passed out in his house in Mambang Diawan.

His fall forced the postponement of Dina Deve’s funeral, scheduled in the morning, to the afternoon. She was buried at the Kampar Hindu cemetery.

Nathan had to be put on the drip and ordered to take a lot of rest at home.

Relative G. Janaki said Nathan had not eaten since his daughter’s body was found on Monday morning.

Dina Deve was one of 22 pupils attending a 1Malaysia camp who fell into Sungai Kampar after the suspension bridge they were on collapsed.

Her body was found 3km downriver while two other girls – M. Devatharshini, 11, and V. Divyashree, 12 – are still missing. The others were rescued from the river.

Devatharshini: Went missing in the river during her second camping trip.

Dina Deve’s mother S. Mogana was also too distraught to talk to reporters after going through both calamities.

Nathan and Mogana have two sons aged 17 and nine.

Janaki said Dina Deve was an active and bright pupil who liked to participate in co-curricular activities.

Devatharshini’s father K. Mages-waran, 46, said he last saw his daughter as she waved goodbye while cycling to her school SJK Tamil Mambang Diawan before proceeding to the camp on Monday.

“My daughter’s bicycle is still parked there in the school,” he said.

He said his daughter and Dina Deve were good friends as they were neighbours.

Divyashree: Also went missing while crossing the suspension bridge with other pupils.

Mageswaran said this was the second time his daughter had gone camping.

He said although the unity programme was good for the pupils, there were not enough people to supervise more than 300 children at the camp.

“The bridge was built without proper foundation. We want to know who designed it and how many people could be on it at a time.

“When the incident happened, the place was in darkness as there was no spotlight in the camp,” he said.

Divyashree’s father K. Vasudevan, 43, last saw his daughter the day after Deepavali as he and his wife R. Kanakam, 41, worked in Kuala Lumpur.

“We gave our blessings for her to attend the camp before we went back to Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

Hoping for the best: Family members and relatives of Divyashree and Devatharshini praying for the safety of the missing girls at the tragedy site Wednesday.

Divyashree, a pupil at Sekolah Kebangsaan Tamil (SRJK) Gopeng, was the eldest of the couple’s three girls.

“I intended to move my family to Kuala Lumpur next year,” Vasudevan, a technician, said.

He said his daughter was an active girl and had won prizes in quiz and drawing contests.