Air India crash victim's tragic five words on call from doomed flight
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 doomed Air India flight has revealed the tragic last message he sent - just moments before the fatal crash that claimed 270 lives. Ramesh Patel was one of the 53 Brits on the Gatwick Airport-bound flight when the aircraft crashed just moments after take-off in Ahmedabad.
According to his devastated family, Mr Patel travelled to India every year to eat his favourite citrus fruit and had a strong connection to his roots.
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.
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.
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