Family's anguished wait for news after air crash
A family from Leicester say they are waiting for news about a loved one who was thought to have been on a plane that crashed in India.
More than 240 people were killed on Thursday when a Boeing 787 bound for Gatwick crashed shortly after take off in Ahmedabad.
Faizan Rafik, 25, from the Belgrave area of the city, was believed to have been on the flight after visiting India for a week to celebrate Eid with his wife.
His brother Farhan Rafik, 22, said the family was still hoping to receive a call from him.
Farhan said: "We are all hoping he will come back, we are still hoping that from somewhere he will pick up our call and say 'I am alive and I am safe', but we are still waiting for that call."
The 22-year-old from Leicester said he and Faizan were "always together" and added people would "feel great" in his company.
He added Faizan dedicated time to charity work and was "respectful" of everyone.
There were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian on the flight when it crashed.
Vishwashkumar Ramesh, also from Leicester, was the sole survivor and escaped the wreckage through an opening in the fuselage.
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Leicester Council of Faiths said it was "shocked" and "saddened" by the plane crash.
A spokesperson said: "With reports of casualties from the local area and the sole survivor from Leicester, and with Leicester's diverse communities having deep connections to India, this tragedy has affected many here.
"We stand together in grief and in mourning for those who have lost their lives."
Follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Survival and loss in Air India plane disaster
Grieving families are mourning at least 279 killed when a London-bound passenger jet crashed in India, with the victims in Ahmedabad ranging from a top politician to a teenage tea seller. One man on board the plane, which was carrying 242 passengers and crew, miraculously survived the fiery crash on Thursday afternoon. But that lone British citizen was the only story of escape from the jet. "I saw my child for the first time in two years, it was a great time," said Anil Patel, whose son and daughter-in-law had surprised him with a visit from Britain. "And now, there is nothing," he said, breaking down in tears. "Whatever the gods wanted has happened." Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian on board the flight bound for London's Gatwick airport, as well as 12 crew members. At least 38 people were killed on the ground. The nose and front wheel of the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner landed on a canteen building where medical students were having lunch. Mohit Chavda, 25, a junior doctor in Ahmedabad, described how he escaped through choking black smoke after the plane smashed into the dining hall. "There was almost zero visibility," Chavda said. "We were not able to see even who was sitting beside us -- so we just ran from there." Scorch marks scar the buildings, where chunks of the plane were embedded into its walls. - 'He caught fire' - Among the dead was Vijay Rupani, 68, a senior member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party and former chief minister of Gujarat state. But they also included teenager Akash Patni, who Indian media reported had been snoozing under a tree in the fierce heat of the day near his family's tea stall in Ahmedabad. "He caught fire in front of my eyes," his mother Kalpesh Patni said, weeping as she talked to the Indian Express newspaper. "I won't be able to live without him." Businessman Suresh Mistry, 53, said his daughter Kinal was a trained dancer, an excellent cook and a yoga enthusiast. A chef in London, she had been visiting her family in India and postponed her flight to stay a few more days. Mistry described the last time he spoke to her, when she called to say the plane was about to take off and he could head back home without any worry. He said he couldn't stop thinking about how, if she had stuck to her original plan, "she would have been alive". ash/pjm/rsc/mtp
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Death toll in Indian plane crash climbs to 270 as search teams find more bodies
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San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
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Death toll in Indian plane crash climbs to 270 as search teams find more bodies
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Search and recovery teams continued scouring the site of one of India's worst aviation disasters for a third day after the Air India flight fell from the sky and killed at least 270 people in Gujarat state, officials said Saturday. The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff Thursday, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. One passenger survived. Dr. Dhaval Gameti at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad told The Associated Press the facility had received 270 bodies, adding that the lone surviving passenger was still under observation for some of his wounds. 'He is doing very well and will be ready to be discharged anytime soon,' Gameti said Saturday. Hundreds of relatives of the crash victims have provided DNA samples at the hospital. Most bodies were charred or mutilated, making them unrecognizable. Some relatives expressed frustration Saturday that the process was taking too long. Authorities say it normally takes up to 72 hours to complete DNA matching and they are expediting the process. 'Where are my children? Did you recover them?' asked Rafiq Abdullah, whose nephew, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were on the flight. 'I will have to ask questions. Government is not answering these questions." Another relative persistently asked hospital staff when his relative's body would be handed over to the family for last rites. 'Give us the body,' the relative insisted. Investigators on Friday recovered the plane's digital flight data recorder, or the black box, which was recovered from a rooftop near the crash site and likely will lead to clues about the cause of the accident. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said it had started working with 'full force' to extract the data. The device is expected to reveal information about the engine and control settings, while the voice recorder will provide cockpit conversations, said Paul Fromme, a mechanical engineer with the U.K.-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, a former crash investigator for both the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration, said investigators should be able to answer some important questions about what caused the crash as soon as next week as long as the flight data recorder is in good shape. Investigators likely are looking at whether wing flaps were set correctly, the engine lost power, alarms were going off inside the cockpit and if the plane's crew correctly logged information about the hot temperature outside and the weight of the fuel and passengers, Guzzetti said. Mistakes in the data could result in the wing flaps being set incorrectly, he said. Thursday's Air India crash involved a 12-year-old Boeing 787. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft. There are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation, according to experts. ___ Hussain reported from Srinagar, India.
