Spiritual leaders died in apartment fire, son says

The couple who died in Friday’s devastating apartment fire in Long Beach were identified Sunday by their son as Akhilesh Srivastava and Nisha “Savitaji” Srivastava, leaders of a spiritual organization based in India.

They were staying in their son Somesh Gyan’s apartment when flames consumed much of the roughly 160-unit Paradise Garden apartment building.

By late Sunday, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office had not identified the couple, found dead in the third-floor hallway of the complex at 6479 Atlantic Ave. But Gyan said he believed they were his parents.

The bodies were about five feet from a stairway exit in the hallway where they apparently fled once the blaze broke out about 4 p.m., Long Beach fire officials said.

Authorities said the fire transformed a third-floor corridor into a horizontal chimney. X-rays and dental records will be required to identify the bodies, one male and one female, said Lt. Fred Corral of the coroner’s investigations division.

Gyan, 32, was coming home from his sales job in Compton about 5:30 p.m. when he saw the firetrucks and police cars at the complex.

When he could not find his parents in the street or auditorium of Jordan High School across the street, where occupants were initially evacuated, Gyan called some co-workers for help.

He remained at the complex while three colleagues searched for his parents at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Saint Mary Medical Center and Lakewood Regional Medical Center. After fruitless efforts, Gyan described his parents, their clothing and jewelry to authorities who went into the building in search of them.

“A guy came out and said they’d found two people lying somewhere outside my apartment and they had the same kind of jewelry that I described,” Gyan said.

“They had a black bag with them, and inside they had their passports, partially burned. They showed me the passports, the front was burned but inside the paper and the picture was clear. It was clear enough for me.”

Gyan, an only child, said he will go to the coroner’s office today and is in the process of planning a funeral for his parents. His wife, Rittu Somesh, cut short a trip to India, returning Sunday to be with him after hearing the news.

Akhilesh Srivastava, known as Akhileshji, was founding president of the nonprofit International Assn. for Scientific Spiritualism based in Meerut, India.

Gyan said his father, a former engineer, tried to help his followers get rid of the stresses and difficulties in their lives. He’d say, “You have diseases, give them to me. You have stresses, give them to me.”

His mother supported his father’s work, Gyan said, and the two were inseparable.

“My mother was always with him -- always,” he said. “Whatever my dad did, my mother was a firm believer in. She was always with him like a shadow, and she did not leave him until the end.”

The couple, both 56, had just concluded a six-week spirituality tour through the United States.

Swati Kapoor, 36, of Milpitas, Calif., said she had spoken with them Thursday. A friend and follower of 11 years, Kapoor said they had told her that they had concluded the most successful trip in the United States in more than a decade.

“They had time for everybody, every little person and their problems,” Kapoor said.

Fire investigators say they believe that the fire, which injured 18 people, including six firefighters, started with a stove-top blaze in a first-floor unit shared by two students. The fire then swiftly spread through the ventilation system to the second and third floors, leaving the entire north building of the complex uninhabitable.

An investigation is underway into all aspects of the fire, including whether any fire codes were being violated in the building, said fire spokesman Chris Milburn.

The American Red Cross is helping residents left homeless by the fire to get shelter, clothing and food. The relief organization is working with the city of Long Beach and family assistance workers to find homes for the displaced.

The process is expected to take about 10 days, said Red Cross spokeswoman Margaret Arbini-Madonna. In the meantime, most of the people are staying with nearby friends and family.

In addition to Gyan, the couple is survived by a 6-year-old granddaughter, Vaidehi Somesh.

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