A house in sleepy Akola town in Agra district was getting concerned visitors on Thursday evening. Satish Lavania resides here and is the elder brother of Neeraj Kumar Lavania, who along with his wife, Aparna, was on the London flight which crashed on Thursday afternoon with most of the passengers feared killed.
“Neeraj called me on Thursday morning and informed me that he was in a cab on the way to Ahmedabad with Aparna to board the flight for London later in the day. They were on a holiday tour and excited but soon it all changed,” said Lavania.
“Neeraj comes once in a year to Akola and was last here in November 2024 when our father died and he came to attend his last rites. He had his primary education here in Akola and did graduation from Agra College in Agra before moving, 15 years ago, to Gujarat for higher studies and did MBA,” Lavania said.
“He worked in the Netherlands for an IT firm and had been to European countries and had settled in Vadodara with his wife and a daughter pursuing graduation,” he added.
A concerned MP from Fatepur Sikri, Agra rural, Raj Kumar Chahar said, “Official confirmation about the names of Neeraj and Aparna in the list of deceased is yet to be received. The Agra district magistrate is in touch with Ahmedabad authorities and SDM, Kiraoli, Sachin Rajput, is here from the district administration. Neeraj’s daughter is reaching the hospital in Ahmedabad from Vadodara, where she lives with her maternal grandmother.”
{{/usCountry}}A concerned MP from Fatepur Sikri, Agra rural, Raj Kumar Chahar said, “Official confirmation about the names of Neeraj and Aparna in the list of deceased is yet to be received. The Agra district magistrate is in touch with Ahmedabad authorities and SDM, Kiraoli, Sachin Rajput, is here from the district administration. Neeraj’s daughter is reaching the hospital in Ahmedabad from Vadodara, where she lives with her maternal grandmother.”
{{/usCountry}}“I was aware about the departure of my brother in flight for London and saw breaking news on TV channels informing of the crash. I called my niece (daughter of Neeraj) who confirmed that her parents had boarded the flight, with seat no. 26 A and B, that crashed with most feared dead,” said Lavania.
It has been reported that dead bodies are to be handed over to family members only after DNA tests for identification of charred bodies.