A man from Kerala [Images] working as a truck driver for a Kuwait-based transportation firm has been killed in a landmine explosion in Iraq recently, members of his family said.

Thirty-year-old Bijumon's family in Elambal village near Kollam was informed of his death by his employers Friday, his relatives said Friday. The tragedy occurred on July 1 when Bijumon was transporting goods to a US military camp near Baghdad. Bijumon had gone to Kuwait six months ago after getting the job through a Kollam-based recruiting agency.

Family members said Bijumon was unaware that he was going to be employed as the driver of a truck that carried goods to US military camps in Iraq. He had expressed a wish to return home since his job involved high risk, they said. The family is in touch with the external affairs and overseas Indians affairs ministries to have Bijumon's body flown home.