KATHMANDU: A 29-year-old Nepali migrant worker has been killed in a drone-related incident in the United Arab Emirates, leaving his family and entire village in deep grief.

Dibas Shrestha of Bhimsen Thapa Rural Municipality–7, Borlang Thati in Gorkha district, had travelled to Dubai four years ago in search of better economic opportunities.

The only son of Chambahadur and Pavitra Shrestha, he had returned home during last year’s Dashain festival and had planned to return this Dashain to get married.

His parents had long dreamed of welcoming a daughter-in-law into their home. Instead, they are now struggling with the devastating loss of their only child.

A graduate of Saraswati Secondary School in his village, Shrestha had completed his Overseer studies in Kathmandu.

Unable to secure employment in Nepal, he left for the UAE and was working as a security guard through a Middle East-based company, according to his uncle Pradip Shrestha.

Family members said they had spoken to him via video call on Saturday evening, just a day before the incident. “He told his father that the situation there was normal but missiles were exploding in the sky,” Pradip Shrestha said. “After that, there was no contact. His friends later informed us that there had been chaos, his mobile phone was lost, and he had suffered a leg injury.”

The family formally received confirmation of his death only today from the Nepali Embassy in the UAE. The tragic news has plunged Thati village into mourning.

“He was a young man who got along with everyone—honest and kind-hearted,” his uncle said. “His parents have lost their only son.”

At present, his father Chambahadur and grandmother are in the village. His mother Pavitra had travelled to Kathmandu to visit her daughter, according to Borlang Ward Chair Narayan Shrestha. “The family is in a terrible state. There are discussions about whether the mother and sister should return to the village or wait to receive the body. There is still uncertainty about when the body will be brought back from the UAE,” he said.

The Embassy of Nepal in Abu Dhabi confirmed in a notice issued on Monday that Dibas Shrestha from Gorkha district died during an incident that occurred while a drone was being neutralized at Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi.

The embassy stated that it had received official information about the death from the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Shrestha’s untimely death has left his family shattered and a quiet village grieving the loss of a promising young life cut short far from home.