Emotional farewell for Air India crew member Irfan Shaikh who died in Ahmedabad

Irfan Shaikh was on board the London bound Air India that crashed into a medical college. He joined aviation industry as a cabin crew two years ago.

Relatives and friends gave an emotional farewell to Irfan Shaikh, a crew member of the ill-fated Air India that crashed in Ahmedabad last week, as his remains were laid to rest at Pimpri Chinchwad in Maharashtra on Saturday.

The Shaikh family received 22-year-old Irfan's remains after a DNA match on Friday, and they were brought to Pune (Reuters)

The Shaikh family received 22-year-old Irfan's remains after a DNA match on Friday, and they were brought to Pune in the early hours of the day. The final rites were held at a graveyard in Nehru Nagar in the presence of family, neighbours, friends, and leaders from across political parties.

Irfan was on board the London-bound Air India flight, AI 171, that crashed into a building in a medical college complex moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on June 21. A total of 241 persons on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft were killed in the crash, along with 29 others on the ground.

"Irfan joined the aviation industry as a cabin crew member two years ago after completing a course. He initially worked with Vistara, and after the Air India-Vistara merger, he began flying on international routes," a relative said.

The youngster had big dreams and was determined to excel in the field, but the crash shattered all those dreams, he added.