At least 7 dead in India helicopter crash as chopper carrying pilgrims goes down days after Air India disaster
SEVEN people including a toddler have died after a helicopter carrying Hindu pilgrims from a shrine crashed in the Himalayas.
The horror accident in India's northern state of Uttarakhand comes just three days after the deadly Air India disaster in Ahmedabad, which killed at least 279 people.
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The chopper reportedly crashed within just minutes of taking off, during what was supposed to be a 10-minute flight.
The pilot and all six passengers were killed after the helicopter went down during a flight from Kedarnath temple in Uttarakhand state, according to local authorities.
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The Guardian
12 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘They were inseparable': family's anguish at wait to bring Air India victims home
In the ramshackle, cramped lanes of Ambika Nagar in the Indian city of Gujarat, everyone spoke of Pooja and Harshit Patel with pride. The couple had done what none of their relatives or neighbours had managed to achieve before; they had moved abroad, settling among the thriving Gujarati diaspora community in the British city of Leicester. Their lives in Leicester, where the couple had moved so Pooja could complete her business masters degree – later getting a job at Amazon alongside Harshit – seemed unimaginably glamorous to their relatives and close-knit community back in India. Pooja would call her mother, 58-year-old Chandra Mate, at least three times a day with tales of British life and to show off her latest outfits, spinning in front of the mirror. Mate, who had never left India and had spent most of her life in this small two-bedroom house in Ahmedabad, lived for these calls. Collectively Pooja and Harshit's families, who came from humble backgrounds, had spent every penny, sold every piece of ancestral land and jewellery and pooled every resource to get their children to the UK and to pay for Pooja's degree. When the couple arrived back in India, surprising their families with the first visit in two years, they were greeted like celebrities. 'When I saw her after two years, it was a kind of joy I had never known,' said Mate, wiping away her tears. 'The entire neighbourhood came out to greet her and Harshit. Her glow, her presence – everything about her had changed.' By the time they started their journey home, it took almost an hour for them to say goodbye to everyone in the lane. Yet they never made it back to Leicester. Less than a minute after their Air India 171 flight from Ahmedabad to London lifted off from the tarmac, air traffic control received a panicked message over the radio from the plane's flight deck. 'Thrust not achieved. Falling. Falling. Mayday. Mayday.' Then the radio went dead. Within seconds, the 227-tonne Boeing dreamliner plane, which had reached 650ft, fell to the ground, exploding into a fireball. The cause of the crash remains a mystery to the authorities and aviation experts, and an investigation is under way. Now Pooja and Harshit's bodies lie in the morgue of Civil hospital Ahmedabad, alongside at least 270 others who lost their lives in the crash, including passengers on the flight and victims on the ground. For their parents, the grief of the disaster has been compounded by an ongoing, excruciating delay in getting the remains of their children back. Authorities and forensic experts have been at pains to emphasise what a complex and gargantuan task it is to correctly identify those who died in the crash, with bodies and limbs still being uncovered from the site over the weekend. Many were charred and dismembered far beyond recognition and a lengthy exercise to match relatives DNA samples to remains has had authorities working overnight for three days, with only about 47 matches made so far. By Sunday morning, Harshit and Pooja's families had a small glimmer of hope, believing that both bodies had been identified. They planned to bring them home and made reservations at the local crematorium, to burn them as per Hindu traditions. But by the afternoon, devastating news was delivered; only Harshit's remains had been confirmed by the hospital. Harshit, 33, and Pooja, 28, had been devoted to each other since they got married eight years ago. Theirs was what is known in India as a love marriage, rather than one arranged by their families, which is still seen as relatively unique. Through sobs, Harshit's father, Anil Patel, said he would not pick up one body without the other. 'In life they were inseparable,' he said. 'I cannot separate them in death. We will only cremate them together.' At a press conference with government and hospital officials on Sunday evening, Pooja's uncle stood up and demanded angrily to know where she was. Officials admitted it could take another three, even four more days for some bodies to be identified. Gathered together in Ambika Nagar, the couple's families were broken with exhaustion and grief. Before they moved to the UK, Pooja had been so worried about Anil being alone – his wife had died of cancer six years ago – that she had insisted that he move in with her family. Their two families now share a single home. Dozens of relatives sat in its two small rooms in collective mourning. As they sat, they shared their final memories of the pair. Pooja had recently suffered a miscarriage, which had left her devastated, but her older sister Aarti Atul Mukture recalled how her sister had arrived in May full of joy and bearing armfuls of gifts for everyone. As Pooja had left for Leicester, she promised her mother to finally buy her a washing machine to ease her domestic burdens. Mate was filled with regret that she did not take her daughter to the airport due to the suffocating summer heat. 'If only I had gone to drop her off, I would've had a few more hours with her,' she said, breaking down again. Yet even as they waited anxiously for the bodies, Anil knew that another episode of pain likely awaited when they finally received them. Officials told the families that they would most likely receive the bodies in 'kits', rather than coffins, as they were so badly burned, dismembered and decomposed. They have been banned from opening them, and will have to cremate them under police supervision. 'We won't even be able to see their faces. Not one last time,' he said with a sob.
Daily Record
41 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Air India crash victim's tragic final words on call from doomed flight to UK
Ramesh Patel was one of 53 Brits on the Gatwick Airport-bound Air India flight when the aircraft crashed just moments after take-off in Ahmedabad. The family of a British national who died on the Air India flight that claimed 270 lives has revealed the tragic last message he sent moments before the fatal crash. One of the 53 Brits on the Gatwick Airport-bound flight when the aircraft crashed just moments after take-off in Ahmedabad was Ramesh Patel. Mr Patel travelled to India every year to eat his favourite citrus fruit and had a strong connection to his roots, according to his devastated family. On the day of the crash, he called his daughter-in-law Kajal Patel to inform her he had arrived at the airport in Ahmedabad on Thursday, and had a window seat for his flight back to Gatwick Airport, reports the Mirror. He first called her to tell her the "weight of the luggage is okay." She later messaged him to "make sure everything is okay' and to wish him a "safe journey". Mr Patel told her he wouldn't ring her again and she said: "That's fine, you just relax, don't worry about, I will update everyone at home that you are safe in the plane". Tragically, he rang his family one last time to say: "I am on the plane safely" and "that it's on time". Kajal said she responded by saying "safe journey and we will see you in the evening". Kajal told local media she had prepared his favourite meal, a Gujarati dish containing lentils and eggplant, and that he was also "looking forward to eating fish and chips as well". The heartbreaking accident killed 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. One passenger remarkably survived. Authorities have started handing over remains of the victims of one of India's worst aviation disasters after identifying some through DNA tests, days after the Air India flight crashed. The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after take-off Thursday, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. One passenger survived. Hundreds of relatives of the crash victims provided DNA samples at the hospital. Most of the bodies were charred or mutilated, making them unrecognisable. Rajneesh Patel, an official at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, said authorities have so far identified 32 victims through DNA mapping and their families were informed. He said the remains of 14 victims were handed over to relatives. The victims' families waited outside the hospital mortuary as authorities worked to complete formalities and transfer the bodies in coffins into ambulances. Most of them have expressed frustration at a slow pace of the identification process. Authorities say it normally takes up to 72 hours to complete DNA matching and they are expediting the process. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Vigil for Portsmouth QA Hospital nurse who died in Air India crash
A vigil has been held for a "kind and compassionate" nurse who died in the Air India plane crash on Gopakumaran Nair had recently resigned from her job at Portsmouth's Queen Alexandra (QA) Hospital and travelled to India to submit documents for a nursing post in Kerala, where she planned to move back to.A vigil was held for her at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth, as part of a sports day event organised by the Union of UK Malayalee Associations (UUKMA) - which friends said Ms Renjitha had been hoping to Furtado, who worked with her at the QA Hospital, said she was "very kind and humble" and her death was "the biggest loss". "Once you meet Renjitha, there is no way you will forget her," she said."She was a very humble person with a smile on her face all the time." She said there were "no words" to express the loss."When we heard the news, and when we saw it's her name especially, it was heart-breaking," she said."[We] can't express what it is we're feeling." Eldhose Mathew, who ran a shop where Ms Renjitha was a regular customer, said her death was "unbelievable"."She was not just a customer - she was just like family," he said."She always came into the shop with a very good smile, and always was respectful and warm."In a eulogy read out at the event, Ms Renjitha's death was described as leaving "a deep void" in the community."[She was] a shining light in our community - a gentle soul whose warmth, kindness and humble presence touched many lives," it read."She carried with her the spirit of Kerala while building a life in the United Kingdom."[Her] life though brief, was full of meaning and love." All but one of the London-bound plane's 242 passengers and crew members died when it crashed in a residential area in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off on of the UUKMA's leaders, Edy Sebastian, said Ms Renjitha had an elderly mother, as well as a daughter aged about 12, and a son, who was about 15. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
