Punjab man, injured in Pakistan aerial strike, dies

A 57-year-old man injured when missile debris fell on his home during a Pakistani aerial strike in May has died at a Ludhiana hospital, officials said on Wednesday.

Lakhwinder Singh, a resident of Khai Pheme Ke village in Punjab's Ferozepur, breathed his last on Tuesday night, 54 days after the May 9 Pakistani shelling. He had been on ventilator for the last few days after his condition deteriorated, they said.

His wife Sukhwinder Kaur, 50, passed away on May 13. Their son Jaswinder Singh, who also received burn injuries when debris set their house and a car on fire, was inconsolable.


"Earlier, I lost my mother and now my father passed away," the 24-year-old said.

The family was initially admitted to a hospital in Ferozepur and later shifted to a private hospital in Ludhiana. Jaswinder was discharged after treatment.

On May 7, India carried out pre-dawn missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in response to the April 22 terror attack that claimed 26 lives in south Kashmir's Pahalgam.

Following the Indian action, Pakistan launched an offensive against Indian military bases and resorted to shelling the border areas for the next three days.

Multiple aerial attacks were carried out by Pakistan at many places along western India's borders, including in Punjab, that were effectively thwarted by the Indian security forces.