In a Buddhist-style ceremony, special prayers were held today at the campus of the Mahabodi International Meditation Centre (MIMC), where a white memorial “stupa” (a sacred Buddhist monument) was erected in memory of the deceased.

“Today’s pooja (prayer) is to remember the four ladies who devoted so much for MIMC and the people of Ladakh.

“The stupa was erected by MIMC to honour the service of the departed, and their names will be etched in the history of this centre,” Charlie Chia Lui Meng, who led the delegation to Leh, last August, said at the ceremony.

The four victims were Julie Ang Ee Lee, 52, Tan Guat Gnoh (50s), Jennie Cheong Swee Chun (42) and Lee Ah Yem (59).

The accident occurred on August 25, in the mountainous Himalayan region in Ladakh, when the four-wheel drive vehicle they were travelling in, hit a rock and plunged into the fast flowing Indus River.

While three of the victims died on the spot, the body of Swee Chun was only discovered about three weeks later in the same river – about a kilometre from the scene of the tragedy.

The deceased were part of a 38-member Malaysian delegation on a pilgrimage tour to Ladakh, and to perform charity work for underprivileged children in the region.

Ladakh is located in a remote part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.