Boy sleeping near family’s tea stall killed, mother survives

Kalpesh’s aunt said that Akash and his mother Sita, 40, were around the tea cart when the plane hit the ground. As it was lunch hour, the business was slightly lean.

Ahmedabad Fifteen-year-old Akash Patni, who was sleeping under a tree near his family’s tea stall close to the BJ Medical College hostel building in Ahmedabad’s Meghaninagar area, is among those who have died on the ground when Air India’s Ahmedabad-London flight turned into a massive ball of fire seconds after taking off from the city’s international airport on Thursday.

15-year-old Akash Pathni and his mother Sita. (HT PHOTO)

“We have had the tea cart for the last 30 years. At the time of incident, it was business as usual for my mother and brother. I received a call at 1.30pm informing about the incident,” said Akash’s elder brother Kalpesh Patni, who does odd jobs for survival.

Kalpesh’s aunt said that Akash and his mother Sita, 40, were around the tea cart when the plane hit the ground. As it was lunch hour, the business was slightly lean.

On hearing the loud thud, Sita managed to escape but in the spur of the moment didn’t realise Akash was left behind.

“She literally came out alive from the fireball but Akash wasn’t as lucky,” Kalpesh said, adding, “she has suffered burn injuries and is admitted at the Civil Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.”

Patni has been running the tea stall for several years and used to live in a slum cluster, which was demolished by the Ahmedabad municipal corporation about three months ago for expansion of BJ Medical Hospital campus.

“As it was a vacant plant, sometimes children who used to live in the slum cluster used to come there to play. At the time of crash, some children were playing there and may have died,” said locals, who used to once live in the slum cluster.