‘Holiday trip' turned into tragedy as business family comes to terms with loss of four members
A constant stream of mourners gathered at Ahmedabad's Sindhubhavan hall Tuesday to pay their respects to Lubi Pumps founder and owner Subhaschandra Amin and his wife Achala, victims of the June 12 Air India plane crash. The family, which lost four members to the crash, is still coming to terms with the tragedy.
The Amin couple was seated on the front seats of the Boeing 787-8 that took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, crashing into the hostel building of the BJ Medical College.
Amin (77) along with his 74-year-old wife, Achala, were going for a holiday trip.The were accompanied by Achala's younger brother Dilip Patel (70) and his wife Meena Patel (69).
'The family was on a holiday trip to London. Dilip and Meena were going to visit their daughter in Canada, so Subhaschandra and Achala planned and joined them for an interim holiday in Europe. The Amin family has members settled across London and Canada so it was a sort of family gathering,' family's eldest son-in-law, Tushar Patel, told The Indian Express. Tushar's wife Tejal is the daughter of Jagdishchandra Amin, elder brother of Subhaschandra.
Subhaschandra was the youngest among three brothers while Jagdishchandra, who is the director of Lubi Industries, is the eldest.
Apart from the family members, a large number of staff members of Lubi also attended the condolence meeting. The mortal remains of Subhaschandra and Achala were handed over to the family after their DNA samples matched on June 15 while Dilip and Meena's remains were given the following day; on June 16.
Lubi Pumps, a well established name in the pumps sector, has come a long way with the first pump manufactured in Ahmedabad in 1965. Lubi pumps are exported to more than 80 countries and have a huge market share in the country.
Apart from the Amin family, among the business tycoons of Ahmedabad who died in the plane crash were three members of the Nanda family, founder of Cargo Motors Group, Pramukh Pravesh Nanda, his wife Neha and their younger son Prayash. Meanwhile, the Hoarding Owners' Association of Ahmedabad has put up several billboards across the city to pay tributes to the departed.
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