Germany building fire: Kochi youth who died shared funny reel as always, was his last message to friends

Kochi: Sivin Johny had spent years dreaming of a life abroad. When the 26-year-old from Kalady finally reached Germany on September 14, he began sharing glimpses of his new life with friends with pictures of his room, updates about his work plans and little moments from his outings in their closed WhatsApp group ‘Irattachankans’. He was about to begin a new job and settle into the life he had worked towards for years.

On Monday morning, he shared a funny reel with his friends on WhatsApp as usual. It was an ordinary moment of banter, the kind that had kept them connected for nearly a decade. But none of them knew it would be the last.

Sivin was among three Malayalis killed in a fire at a residential building in Germany’s Bochum, barely a month after leaving Kerala. Back home in Kalady, his father, Johny Ouseph, was trying to reach him on Monday when the fire broke out. Sivin usually called home every day, but his calls went unanswered. The family initially told his father that Sivin was in hospital, breaking the news of his death only on Thursday morning.

The friend who stayed connected always
Vinayak Thulasidharan, Sivin’s friend, had known him online for nearly 10 years. They first connected on Facebook around 2016, when a group of friends created a Messenger group that eventually moved to WhatsApp.

Called ‘Irattachankans’, the group began as a space to chat and share common interests. As members grew older and became occupied with jobs and responsibilities, many became less active. However, Sivin continued to participate and kept the group alive.

“Even when everyone was busy, he would still take out at least 10 minutes to spend with the group,” Vinayak recalled.

A die-hard Rohit Sharma fan and passionate cricket follower, Sivin regularly shared match updates. He was equally enthusiastic about cinema and a devoted Mammootty fan. Vinayak remembers how his friendly arguments over cricket and films often ended in laughter.

“Whenever conversations went quiet, Sivin would share a joke, a reel or an observation to get everyone talking. He was also one of the group’s administrators and helped coordinate charitable initiatives during the Covid pandemic, including distributing food kits, providing schoolbooks and pooling money for members facing medical emergencies,” Vinayak said.

Even after moving to Germany, he found time to keep the group alive. His last message was a funny reel featuring the trending Tamil Instagram influencer Veeramani, shared on Monday morning around 9.53 am IST, according to Vinayak. Later, the news of his death followed.

“We desperately prayed that it shouldn’t be him. We tried calling him, but there was no response. We just wished he was just offline and would come back,” he said, recalling how a forwarded list of victims from a Germany-based group first carried Sivin’s name. Friends hoped he might have survived and been hospitalised until his brother confirmed the death.

A dream years in the making
Sivin had been trying to move abroad for years. After completing his B.Com degree at De Paul Institute of Science & Technology, Angamaly, he worked at a cousin’s overseas consultancy office while pursuing his own plans.

Paulose Konooran, Sivin’s uncle, said that an earlier attempt by him to move to France did not materialise. Germany eventually offered the opportunity he had been waiting for.

He left Kerala on September 14, hoping to establish himself. His younger brother was already in Germany, studying nursing, while his elder sister worked as a nurse in Ireland. Her marriage had been fixed for her next visit home in January.

Sivin’s mother, Lissy, had died of cancer some time earlier. His father, Johny, is a farmer and lives in Thottakom, Manickamangalam, in Kalady.

Relatives received word of the fire on Wednesday afternoon through family members in Dubai. They began contacting Sivin’s younger brother and friends in Germany to establish what had happened.

“We initially told Johny that a fire had broken out and his son was in hospital. We disclosed the truth only this morning. He used to call daily, and Johny had tried calling his son on Monday but received no answer,” Paulose said.

The family is trying to bring Sivin’s body back home with the help of the Indian embassy there.

For Vinayak and the friends, the one who filled their group with conversations, jokes, arguments and everyday updates, the silence is difficult to accept. The group has been temporarily closed following his demise. “Every notification brings back memories of him,” Vinayak said.

Sivin had built a social media following, with nearly 40,000 followers on Instagram. He had been discussing and planning a meet-up of ‘Irattachankans’ at one of the members' upcoming wedding. That reunion will now take place without him.