Who are the British victims of the Air India plane crash?
Thursday's plane crash in India is one of the deadliest aviation disasters in terms of the number of Britons killed.
Of the 242 people on board the London Gatwick-bound Air India flight, 53 were British, with 52 dying.
The sole survivor of the crash was Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, from Leicester. On Friday, he described the horror of watching people 'dying in front of my eyes'.
He told DD News from his hospital bed: 'When I opened my eyes and looked around, I realised I was alive. I still can't believe how I survived."
Details of those who died in the tragedy are starting to emerge with tributes being paid to some of the Britons killed in the crash. Here are some of the victims who have been named so far.
What we know about them: They were a family of three from Gloucester.
Vorajee volunteered at an Islamic school and was also a director for an organisation promoting understanding of the religion. Nanabawa ran a recruitment firm called Iceberg Recruitment Services which had a branch in Ahmedabad, India, according to the company's website.
Sara was their four-year-old daughter.
Tributes: 'They were widely loved and deeply respected," their family said in a statement. "His [Nanabawa's] quiet generosity, her [Vorajee's] warmth and kindness, and their daughter's bright, joyful spirit made a lasting impact on everyone who knew them.
'She was a ray of sunshine in her school and they were a pillar of strength in our lives."
What we know about them: Mariam and Javed Ali Syed and their two children, five-year-old Zayn and four-year-old Amani, were on the flight returning from a holiday in India, Mariam's sister-in-law, Yasmine Hassan, told The Telegraph.
Javed is thought to have worked at a hotel in London while Mariam had reportedly worked for Harrods for a decade.
Tributes: Speaking about the couple's young children, Yasmine Hassan said: 'They are so small. And it's just thinking how scared they must have been.'
What we know about them: Dr Prateek Joshi, a radiologist at the Royal Derby Hospital, was on the Air India flight with his family, Derby Hindu Temple said. The photo above is believed to have been taken on the plane before it took off.
He is reported to have moved to Derby from India in 2021. His wife and three children haven't been named yet.
Tributes: Dr Joshi's colleague Dr Rajeev Singh said: 'He often entertained colleagues with stories about his passions outside of work, including his newly discovered love of fish and chips and enthusiasm for walking in the Peak District.
'He touched the lives of so many people, both through his clinical work and as a colleague and friend to many.
'It is hard to accept that a man with such a passion for life, and his beautiful young family, have been taken in this way.'
Neil Ryan, a former neighbour, told the BBC they "were really unassuming, genuine, kind people. It's heartbreaking."
What we know about them: The couple, who ran a spiritual wellness centre called The Wellness Foundry, had laughed and joked as they filmed a video of themselves at the airport before taking off.
Fiongal had appeared on ITV's This Morning twice this year to talk about wellness. The BBC reported their business was based in Ramsgate, Kent, and they were due to be hosting workshops at Ramsgate Pride on Saturday.
Tributes: In an on-air tribute on This Morning on Friday, presenter Dermot O'Leary said "we loved the energy he brought to the studio".
Former editor of the show Martin Frizell said: "I remember his visit to the studio in January, he was passionate about auras and although I'm a sceptical sort, his vibrancy and sheer enthusiasm won folk over.'
What caused Air India Flight AI171 to crash? The key information we know so far (Yahoo News UK)
Boeing experts and UK and US aviation officials join Air India crash investigation (The Guardian)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Prayers for doctor and family killed in plane crash
Friends and colleagues have gathered to remember a family who died in the Air India plane crash. More than 240 people were killed on Thursday when a Boeing 787 bound for Gatwick crashed shortly after take-off in Ahmedabad. On Saturday at Derby Hindu Temple, prayers were said for Dr Prateek Joshi, a radiologist at Royal Derby Hospital, who was also onboard the flight along with his wife and 3 children. Manog Ramtohal, who worked at the same trust, said: "I don't think we will ever get over it." The plane was carrying 242 people when it crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport, in western India. There were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian on the flight. Dr Joshi moved from India to Derby in 2021 and worked at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust for four years, the trust said. Mr Ramtohal said: "It is like someone has been amputated from that department, it's something I don't think we will ever get over. "Always generous, always willing to help, nothing was too little [for him to look after]. "He worked with politeness, courtesy and good manners. "Part of the tragedy is he was getting better and better and we will never know what he could have achieved, what he could have given to the community." Gisela Robinson, executive chief medical officer at Royal Derby Hospital, said: "Talking to the department yesterday it is clear how cherished he was by all of his colleagues and it has ripped a hole in the department. "Kind, happy-go-lucky clinician who really knitted the department together. "It felt right to come and pay our respects today." Follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. Newly engaged couple among Air India crash victims Doctor and family among Air India crash victims Derby Hindu Temple
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Data recorder is found for Air India plane that crashed
The Aviation Ministry previously announced late Friday that the government had formed a high-level investigative committee that would focus on 'preventing and handling such occurrences in the future.' Advertisement Flight AI171, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, crashed moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad, in India's western state of Gujarat. There was only one survivor from the 242 onboard, and dozens of people on the ground were also killed. In a sign of the alarm caused by the crash, India's aviation regulators ordered Air India on Friday to carry out 'additional maintenance actions' on its Boeing 787 fleet. The aviation minister said there were 34 such planes in India, eight of which had already undergone the new inspections. He said the rest would be inspected 'with immediate urgency.' It could be months before a definitive explanation emerges, but videos of the accident and other evidence have begun to offer clues about what might have brought down the plane. Among the initial questions: whether the plane's wing flaps and slats were properly extended, and why the landing gear, which creates drag, remained down. Advertisement Distraught relatives waited at Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital, the city's main medical facility, to claim the bodies of their loved ones for funerals. By late Friday, fewer than a dozen bodies had been released, as medical staff ran DNA tests to determine identities. Rafeek Abdul Aziz Ahmed, who was among the relatives at the hospital, said that his nephew, who had been working as a hotel manager in London, died in the crash along with his wife and their two young children. Ahmed said the wait was becoming excruciating, as the government had not said when the bodies might be released. 'I want to know where the two small children are,' he said, standing outside the center where workers were collecting DNA samples from the relatives. 'My nephew and his family came to visit me. What will I tell their relatives in London?' Medical workers at the facility said that what made the job hard was not just the sheer number of samples that had to be collected to identify the remains of 270 victims, but that in many cases, body parts had to be painstakingly pieced together before they could be released to families. 'For two nights now, without sleep, our teams have been working to swiftly match the DNAs of all the families,' said Harsh Sanghavi, the home minister for Gujarat, where Ahmedabad is located. On its way down, the plane skidded into the buildings of a medical college near the airport, its tail striking a dining hall where dozens of medical students and junior doctors had been having lunch. On Saturday, a crane was still trying to extract the tail of the aircraft from the badly damaged building, and rescuers pulled out another body from the wreckage. Advertisement Late Friday, the site remained cordoned off after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited to survey the wreckage. Earth-moving machinery was clearing debris as students from the college came out carrying personal belongings like books and clothing that they had retrieved. Many said they had spent the night elsewhere, in hotels. While the death toll among the passengers was clear by the end of Thursday, the day the plane went down, exactly how many on the ground died in the impact and fire caused by the crash is still uncertain. The government has remained tight-lipped, but security officials at the site and medical doctors say as many as three dozen people were probably killed in addition to those on board the plane. The official death toll stands at 270. This article originally appeared in
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Young sisters orphaned as father dies in Air India crash while flying home after spreading mother's ashes
Two young sisters in London have been tragically orphaned after their father was killed in the deadly Ahmedabad plane crash — just days after he traveled to India to lay their cancer-stricken mother to rest. Arjun Patoliya, 37, was one of at least 270 killed in the horrific crash, one of India's worst aviation disasters. Patoliya was flying back to the UK Thursday to reunite with his grieving daughters, ages 4 and 8, after fulfilling his late wife Bharatiben's dying wish: to have her ashes scattered in a local river in their native Gujarat, the Daily Mail reported. Advertisement But disaster struck when his India Air flight AI-171, bound for Gatwick Airport, crashed shortly after takeoff. The girls are now mourning the loss of both their parents within just a couple of weeks. 6 The couple's four- and eight-year-old daughters are now orphaned, and mourning the loss of both their parents within just a couple of weeks. GoFundMe Officials on Saturday revealed that the pilot had issued a chilling distress call seconds before the 12-year-old Boeing 787 Dreamliner began free-falling from 650 in the air. Advertisement 'Mayday, mayday,' Capt. Sumeet Sabharwal said in his final radio communications with air traffic control, less than a minute after the flight took off from Ahmedabad Airport at 1:39 p.m. It hit the ground in Meghani Nagar — just over a mile from the airport — and struck a medical college hostel in Gujarat State. 6 Relatives comfort parents of Arjun Patoliya, 37, who died when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India. REUTERS 6 The crash killed 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground, according to investigators. RAJAT GUPTA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Advertisement 6 A view shows the rear of an Air India plane following its crash, in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. via REUTERS The crash killed 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground, according to officials, who said recovery teams found at least 25 more bodies in the debris on Friday. Only one man, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, survived the horrifying ordeal. All of the bodies have been taken to the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad – where the survivor also remains in treatment for his injuries, Dr. Dhaval Gameti told the Associated Press. Advertisement Read more on the Air India plane crash 'He is doing very well and will be ready to be discharged anytime soon,' Gameti told the outlet Saturday. Relatives of the crash victims have shown up in full force, donating hundreds of DNA samples for the hospital to use to help identify their loved ones. Most bodies found so far were charred or mutilated, making them unrecognizable. On Friday, investigators recovered the plane's digital flight data recorder, or black box, from a rooftop near the crash site. 6 Caskets to carry the remains of some of the victims of Thursday's Air India plane crash are brought in a vehicle to a hospital in Ahmedabad, India, Saturday, June 14. AP 6 Firefighters work to put out a fire at the site where an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India. REUTERS Paul Fromme, a member of the UK-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said the device is expected to reveal information about the plane's engine and control settings. Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti said investigators should be able to answer questions about what caused the crash as soon as next week, as long as the black box is intact.
