Air India plane crash: Coffins from Surat, Vadodara arrive in Ahmedabad

Indian Express

11 hours ago

Over 50 coffins were sent to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital by a group of Christian makers from Vadodara on Sunday. The makers are from the Centenary Methodist Church in Vadodara, who had been working long hours since Friday night.
Besides, 20 more coffins arrived at the hospital on Sunday afternoon. The maker is from Surat.
Talking to The Indian Express, Nelvin Rajwadi, associated with Centenary Methodist Church, Vadodara, said, 'On Friday evening, I got a call from an official of Air India cargo service at Ahmedabad and first ordered me to make 120 coffins to deliver bodies of the crash victims. We shared the information with our Church people. 14 people associated with the church had worked hard from 11.00 pm on Friday night till Sunday afternoon and got the coffins ready.'
The old boys' hostel near the church at Fatehgunj was cleaned to make the coffins. The work, which began around Friday midnight, started with procuring plywood, nails and a large quantity of cloth to cover the coffin. The responsibilities were divided. Some people were involved in cutting the plywood, while others were entrusted with fixing the coffin. One group was working to put polythene plastic material, while a fourth group was involved in wrapping the coffin in a white cloth. Rajwadi reasons that polythene material was placed inside the coffin to prevent further decomposition of the bodies. Talking about the process, Bobbybhai Loyal, a Vadodara based coffin maker, says,'The size of the coffin is 2 feet wide, six feet long, and one foot deep. There are approximately four experts involved in making coffins, while others act as helpers, following directions. We worked days and nights to prepare 50 coffins. Generally, we make coffins as per demand and in a month, which is usually 35 coffins.'
Rajwadi states that an average sized coffin is usually charged in the market at Rs. 6000. 'We have charged Rs. 3000 with no profit and no loss,' he adds. He states that Air India officials have now sought a bigger size for the remaining coffins.'… the Air India authorities told us that the bodies had started decomposing and they want a bigger size of coffins. As per the new specifications, the coffins will be 7 feet long, 2 feet deep, and 3 feet wide. The officials had told us that on Sunday night, they would place an order for a new size of coffins.'
Apart from Vadodara, the coffin makers of New Life Church at Adajan in Surat have also prepared 20 average-sized coffins and delivered them to the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad. The coffin maker in Surat, Anthony Horban, said, 'We got an order of 20 coffins of average size of six feet long. We already had 15 such coffins, and on Saturday, we made five coffins. All 20 coffins were delivered on Sunday to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital.' Like Rajwadi, Horban notes they have charged Air India on a no-profit-no-loss basis.