Virginia shoot out: Indian girl dead

TRAGIC END: Minal was in the University's Norris Hall when the shootout took place.

WHAT WE KNOW

Minal's mother, who incidentally arrived in the US two weeks back, reached the University campus only on Tuesday. She was accompanied by a relative.

Information about Minal's death came in late because no immediate family member was present on campus.

There were 32 bodies at the Regional Medical Centre and so identification of the bodies took time.

This is the second Indian casualty. Professor Loganathan was also shot at Norris Hall.

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Keywords: Indian Students, Shoot Out

New Delhi: Missing Indian student Minal Panchal who was missing since the Virginia Tech University massacre on Monday was confirmed dead late on Tuesday night.

Minal, a Masters student in Building Sciences, was in the Norris Hall of the university when the shooting took place.

"The Indian Embassy has learnt with great sorrow that apart from Indian American Professor G V Loganathan, a first year student Minal Panchal is also among the victims," a senior official of the Embassy told PTI.

Minal’s friends had said they had been trying to contact her, but her phone was not reachable.

Twenty-six-year-old Minal, who belonged to Mumbai, completed her undergraduate degree from Rizvi College of Architecture Mumbai in 1998.

Her profile on the social networking website, Orkut, said she has a slim built, is 168 centimeters tall, has brown eyes and black hair. Messages from many friends and well-wishers had been pouring in for her on the website.

In Monday's massacre, a gunman killed 32 people at the Virginia University before committing suicide. It was the deadliest shooting rampage in US history.

The Virginia Tech police have identified the shooter as a 23-year-old South Korean named Cho Seung Hui, an undergraduate student in his senior year as an English major.

Meanwhile, Indian officials said they were trying to assist the families and determine how many Indian students were injured in the shooting.

“We are in touch with our embassy (in Washington). Our consular offices are in touch with the dean of students and also with the Indian Students' Association,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Navtej Sarna said.

A rude shock

Professor G V Loganathan of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering was teaching in a class in the Norris Hall – one of the crime scenes – when the gunman went on rampage.

His colleague Prof Raman Kumar confirmed the news of Loganathan’s death to CNN-IBN.

According to Raman, Loganathan was taking a lecture when the second shooting occurred. He was killed around 0915 hrs (local time), Raman confirmed.

When CNN-IBN contacted a shaken Raman, he was at Lognathan’s residence and said he got the confirmation from the authorities at the University.

However, Raman said no other details were made available and police were not willing to give out any information regarding the deceased or the injured to anyone except the immediate family.

Loganathan is survived by wife Usha Loganathan and two daughters Uma and Abhirami. The family of four stays on the campus in Blacksburg.

Loganathan first became a member of the Virginia Tech community in 1982 and earned several honors, including the Outstanding Faculty Award, the Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Faculty Achievement Award for Excellence in Civil Engineering Education.

He was also the recipient of Virginia Tech's 2006 W.E. Wine Award for Excellence in Teaching.

CAMPUS CARNAGE
	October 2006: West Nickel Mines School, Pennsylvania Ten girls’ are shot by truck driver Charles Roberts. Five girls die. Roberts kills himself
	March 2005: Red Lake High School, Minnesota Seven people gunned down by a 16-year-old. Student shoots himself later.
	October 2002: School of Nursing, University of Arizona Student opens fire, kills three professors. Shoots himself later.
	January 2002: Appalachian School of Law, Virginia Dismissed student kills dean, professor and another student. Gunmen killed themselves later.
	August 1996: University of Texas, Austin Charles Whitman kills 13. Thirty-one others were wounded. Whitman had killed his mother and wife the night before.