Air India plane crash: Tea-seller's son among victims, ground toll rises

Hindustan Times

a day ago

He was neither on the ill-fated flight nor in the hostel building that the London-bound Air India jet rammed into on Thursday afternoon in Ahmedabad. But on Friday, 15-year-old Akash Patni, who was sleeping under a tree near his family's tea stall close to the BJ Medical College hostel, was confirmed to have been killed by the same tragedy that claimed about 260 other lives.
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A day after the worst air crash in the country in three decades, forensic investigators combed through mangled pieces of metal and authorities struggled to confirm the identities of the masses of charred bodies heaped up inside the mortuary.
'The death toll based on the bodies recovered so far would be between 265 and 270,' said Kanan Desai, deputy commissioner of police, Ahmedabad (zone 4).
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The state government said in a statement 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.
'Four doctors and two of their family members have died in the crash. Around six to seven staff members from the hostel mess are also missing,' said Dr Meenakshi Parikh, dean of BJ Medical College.
An official said two of these mess workers were also dead. Separately, officials said three people were missing from the slums that ring the crash site, but refused to give any more details.
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'At the time of the crash, my mother Sarla and daughter Aadya were in the mess. It has been 24 hours but I have not got any clue about what has happened to them,' said Ravi Thakor, who worked in the BJ Medical College dining hall.
In a statement, Air India confirmed late on Thursday that 241 of the 242 people on board AI-171 perished in the crash. As of Friday night, the number of people confirmed dead stood near 250 and another nine to 10 people were unaccounted for.
But the death of Patni confirmed that in addition to the plane and the hostel it slammed into, there was a third spot where people died due to the tragedy – in the neighbourhood.
'We have had the tea cart for the last 30 years. At the time of the 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, business was lean. On hearing the loud thud, Sita sprinted, but didn't realise Akash was asleep under the tree.
'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.'
The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick crashed 33 seconds after taking off on Thursday afternoon and rammed into the medical college hostel, marking the worst air tragedy in the country in three decades.
Thick plumes of black smoke billowed from the debris of AI-171 at the crash site roughly 3km from the Ahmedabad airport premises. The aircraft – which carried almost a full load of 125,000 litres of fuel – entered a slow descent shortly after taking off at 1.38pm, with its landing gear still extended before exploding into a huge fireball upon impact. The twin-engine plane had reached an altitude of 625 feet (190.5 meters) at a speed of 174 knots, according to data from Flightradar24.
At the crash site, the tail cone of the aircraft with damaged stabilizer fins still attached to it was lodged near the top of the BJ Medical College hostel mess.
Superintendent of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, Dr Rakesh Joshi, declined to give details of the deceased. Hospital officials said analysis was continuing of the body parts in the mortuary. The final toll might be released only after 72 hours when the DNA investigation is completed, said a police officer who asked not to be named.
'The toll could be very high. I went to the crash site. I could not find a single body in one piece,' said Girish Vanjara, a 32-year-old Public Relations Officer at the 1,200-bed women's and children's hospital within Ahmedabad Civil Hospital.
Sahana Ren, who works as a cook at the BJ Medical College hostel mess, said, 'I know a woman and her grandmother missing since the crash. I have not been able to find my sister-in-law also.' She was among more than 50 people present in the mess hall when Air India Flight AI171 crashed directly onto the building's roof.
'I was on the second floor when the plane hit,' Ren recounted to Hindustan Times. 'The roof began collapsing immediately under the enormous weight of the aircraft. Within moments, everything went dark as smoke filled the air.'
In a statement, the government said relatives of around 219 victims of the plane crash had come forward for DNA testing and blood sample collection. 'Their samples have been collected, and the remaining families are being contacted for the same. Ten teams from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), comprising 36 experts, are working around the clock (24x7) for this purpose,' the statement added.
Rajeshbhai Patni, a 47-year-old auto-rickshaw driver, was dropping off passengers near the hostel when tragedy struck. 'I saw the plane exploding when it hit the roof. I saw red and black flames emerging from the building. I left my auto rickshaw and ran for my life,' recounted Patni, who has suffered injuries on his chest and leg and is receiving treatment at the Civil Hospital.