Ahmedabad plane crash: Search continues for those killed on ground
Many families remain in uncertainty, frantically searching for their loved ones whose bodies may have been charred beyond recognition
Ahmedabad: The June 12 crash of Air India Flight 171 in Ahmedabad has left an indelible mark not only on the families of the 241 people aboard the aircraft, but also on dozens of families on the ground who were going about their daily lives when tragedy struck.
So far, the government has confirmed that only one of the 242 people on board the plane survived. On Friday, the bodies of eight people who died at the BJ Medical College hostel were handed over to their families. Around 22 more people — all on the ground — are feared dead, though the exact toll remains unclear.
The development comes three days after AI-171 crashed into the hostel complex of BJ Medical College, seconds after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport. Around 50 people were present in the hostel’s mess hall on Thursday afternoon when the aircraft crashed into the building’s roof, an official from the college said o.
Many families remain in agonising uncertainty, frantically searching for their loved ones whose bodies may have been charred beyond recognition.
Payal Thakor, who worked in the hospital mess along with her relatives, said that she has been searching for her mother and two-year-old niece for the past three days. “My mother and my two-year-old niece have both been missing for three days. They were in the hostel mess when the plane crashed,” she said. “My sister-in-law, whose daughter is missing, is very sick and we don’t know what to tell her. We have given our DNA samples and are waiting for the hospital’s response.”
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Sahana Ren, who worked as a cook in the hostel mess, considered herself to be one of the “fortunate people”. While Ren managed to escape with her daughter to safety, her sister-in-law remains missing. “She also worked in the mess with me, and we are unable to find her,” she said.
Six to seven employees working in the hostel mess were presumed dead, the college official cited above said.
Around 200 metres from the crash site, at the entrance of a residential apartment complex, a small poster put up on Saturday announced a prayer meeting for Aakash Patni, the 15-year-old boy who lost his life in the tragedy. His mother, who ran a tea stall near the medical college’s hostel, now lies in a hospital bed, injured in the very crash that claimed her son.
Speaking to HT on Sunday, their neighbour Jitesh Patni said hospital authorities have been delaying the release of Aakash’s body. “His mother is in serious condition and undergoing treatment. The family has organised a prayer meeting and is waiting to perform his final rites, ” he said. “The hospital authorities keep assuring that they will hand over the body, yet it hasn’t happened so far.”
The state government said in a statement on Friday that the bodies of eight individuals – four medical students from BJ Medical College, two of their family members, and two other people – were identified and handed over to their respective families. The statement said the deceased were from “nearby residential areas” but didn’t identify anyone.
At least four medical students were among the list of victims. The tragedy also claimed two relatives of a doctor –– his pregnant wife and her brother, the college official quoted above said. Their identities remain undisclosed.
Girish Vanjara, a public relations officer (PRO) at the 1200-bed women and children’s hospital within the Civil Hospital complex, was among the first responders at the crash site on Thursday.
Located just 500 metres from the disaster, he rushed to the scene within 15 minutes of the impact and immediately joined the rescue efforts. “I helped recover as many as 20 bodies, but I could not find a single body in one piece,” he recounted. “There were people from the surrounding community who had been going about their daily lives when tragedy struck. Many relatives are still searching for them.”
State emergency commissioner Alok Pandey on Sunday said the deceased were from 18 of Gujarat’s 33 districts, and that their families have been contacted. He also said that families of at least 11 foreign nationals have been contacted through their respective countries’ embassies, and necessary procedures for DNA sample matching have been initiated.
“For the British citizens, continuous coordination is underway with representatives of the British government to ensure that the mortal remains are handed over to their families smoothly,” Pandey said.
