‘70 tolas of gold, ₹80,000 cash': What first responder saw at Ahmedabad Air India crash site
The aircraft went down at the canteen of the BJ Medical College, where students were having lunch at the time. Visuals from the scene showed a massive blaze erupting on impact.
'For the first 15 to 20 minutes, we could barely get close. The fire was too intense,' Times of India quoted Raju Patel as saying.
He said that once emergency services arrived, his team began helping, using sarees and bedsheets to carry the injured in the absence of stretchers. They were allowed to remain at the site until 9 pm.
'But once the first fire brigade and 108 ambulances arrived, we jumped in to help. We did what we could,' he added.
Amid the wreckage, Patel saw burnt luggage scattered across the charred ground as his team joined efforts to search for belongings.
They recovered 70 tolas (over 800 grams) of gold jewellery, ₹80,000 in cash, passports, and a Bhagawad Gita, all of which were handed over to the police.
Gujarat home minister Harsh Sanghavi later said that each salvaged item is being documented and will be returned to the victims' families.
Patel, whose history of volunteering includes the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts, said he was deeply affected by what he witnessed. 'I'm just grateful we could do something,' he said.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 242 passengers and crew and headed for Britain's Gatwick Airport, began losing altitude just seconds after takeoff on Thursday. This tragedy marks the world's deadliest aviation disaster in the past decade.
Dhaval Gameti, president of the Junior Doctors Association at BJ Medical College, told reporters that at least 270 bodies have been recovered from the crash site.
Only one of the 242 passengers and crew on board survived, while the rest were killed when the plane crashed into the medical college's hostel during its descent.
The tragedy has cast a shadow over Air India, which has been striving to restore its reputation and modernise its fleet since the Tata Group took over from the Indian government in 2022.
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