Lorraine Campbell
Dubai - Both of them were last seen having breakfast before a blast ripped through the hotel.
Published: Wed 24 Apr 2019, 8:00 PM
Updated: Thu 25 Apr 2019, 2:58 PM
A Dubai-based expatriate has been confirmed as the eighth Briton to have been killed in the Sri Lanka blasts, while her colleague remains 'missing'.
Campbell, 55, who used to work as the IT director at Al Futtaim Group and hailed from Manchester, had gone to Sri Lanka on a business trip with her colleague, Juno Srivastava, 42, an Indian national.
Also read: 'Missing' Dubai-based Briton confirmed dead in Sri Lanka blasts
Both of them were staying at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel and were last seen having breakfast before a blast ripped through the hotel. A close family member of Srivastava told Khaleej Times that he was "no more", although his official status remains "missing".
An internal memo from the company's senior executive to its staff confirmed Campbell's death. "It is with a heavy heart I inform you that two of our colleagues were caught up in Sunday's terror attacks in Sri Lanka. Both were in Sri Lanka on business travel. Lorraine tragically lost her life."
Referring to Srivastava, the memo said he was "officially listed as missing".
Read on: Sri Lanka terror attacks: Frantic online search for missing Dubai expats
In a statement, Campbell's husband, Neil Evans, said her family and friends were in a "state of disbelief and grief". "Lorraine was a real tour de force. She epitomised the qualities she lived by, and was a conduit for bringing people together to both make things happen, and make them better," he said. "I've lost my best friend in the world for all the adventures we shared and planned for the future," Evans said.
A statement from Campbell's family added: "Lorraine, known to most people as Loz, was a woman who embraced life to the full, and meant so much to so many people and there will forever be an enormous void that will never now be filled.
"Loz was a wife, mother, sister and aunt, and a close friend to so many people, having risen through the ranks of the IT world, working in multiple cities in the UK and abroad."
Srivastava's family said his wife, Rachna, and brother, Jugnu, travelled to Colombo a day after the blasts and are working with officials at the Indian High Commissions in Sri Lanka to ascertain his official status. The New Delhi native has two children who study in Dubai. According to his Facebook profile, he used to work in Egypt and moved to Dubai in 2011. He has been with Al Futtaim Group since 2013.
Campbell is the second Dubai expat to have been killed in the blasts. Indian national PS Razina, 62, was killed in the blast at the Shangri-La Hotel as she was preparing to check out. She had gone to the country to meet her brother, who is settled there with his family.
Interfaith meeting in Dubai
Nearly 200 expats, most of them Sri Lankans, gathered at the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Dubai for an interfaith meeting on Wednesday. Charitha Yattogoda, consul general of Sri Lanka, addressed the gathering: "April 21 was a black day for Sri Lankans everywhere. With 359 persons killed, and over 500 injured, we have gathered here to evoke blessings for the departed souls.
"Irrespective of ethnic or religious differences, we are united in this time of grief. Terrorists have no religion - their only belief is terrorism."
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com
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