Thirumurthy 1962-1971 Pope House

We all knew what a gentle person Thiru was. He met with us in Bangalore Club a number of times after we formed our group before his untimely demise. It was shocking for all of us, he was one of our group whom some of us knew from the girl school days.

Times of India report:
The tragic deaths of V.P. Thirumurthy, director of VST Group and former Bangalore Club president, his wife and daughter in a road
accident in New Zealand on Wednesday has shocked the Club members, employees of India Garage and Ford Motors (part of VST Group) and students of Mount Carmel College, where Thirumurthy 's daughter was studying.

Thirumurthy, his wife Suchitra and daughters Ahalya and Urmila were on a vacation in New Zealand.

On Wednesday, they were heading towards Rotorua for a day's trip with other tourists, when their van met with an accident.

Eight people in the van died after it crashed with a truck in Waikato on the State Highway 27, east of Morrinsville. Ahalya has been admitted to a hospital in Hamilton and is in a serious condition.

Thirumurthy's family said they had wrong information on Wednesday that it was Ahalya who had died. It was later discovered that she is in the hospital. Ahalya is doing her first B.Com, while Urmila had passed PU and was scheduled to join BBM, both in Mount Carmel College.

Thirumurthy's family has not yet decided whether to bring the bodies here or to conduct the last rites in New Zealand. The van, involved in the accident, apparently lost control on a bend and hit the truck head-on. The NZ police have described the accident the worst in a decade. Bangalore Club has put up a condolence message on their premises. A large number of club members, Mount Carmel students, VST Group employees and trade partners offered condolences to Thirumurthy's family. Bangalore Club deputy secretary, Wing Commander S.K. Lodh (retd), said: "Thirumurthy was a great personality. We will definitely miss him."

Vasanthi Venugopal, lecturer, Mount Carmel College, said: "I taught Ahalya for two semesters. It is a tragedy for the family."