ISRO official succumbs to injuries

Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Director for Public Relations and Publications S Krishnamurthy, who was seriously hurt in a road accident last week, succumbed to the injuries at a private hospital in Tirupati.

ISRO sources said Krishnamurthy, 57, had sufferred serious multiple injuries when the car in which he was travelling had hit a stationary truck near the temple town of Tirupati on August 24. He died at Sri Venkateshwara Institute of Medical Sciences in Tirupati on Saturday due to the complications arising from his multiple injuries.

Krishnamurthy’s death comes a day ahead of the scheduled launch of INSAT-4CR, India’s latest communication satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

Incidentally, Krishnamurthy was proceeding to Sriharikota on the fateful August 24 night along with scientific secretary to ISRO Rajeev Lochan when the mishap took place. Lochan and the car driver Chandran were killed on the spot in the accident.

An electronics engineering, Krishnamurthy had joined the ISRO in 1972 and rose to become the Director of Public Relations and Publicity in 1989. He had been serving in that position for the last 18 years. Krishnamurthy’s body was brought to Bangalore yesterday for the last rites.