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National Post

'A good father': Regina community remembers young father killed in Air India crash

A Regina father killed in the Air India crash last week had planned his flights back to Saskatchewan so that he could be home in time to celebrate his daughter's birthday, says his cousin. Article content 'He was a good father and he was doing everything for them,' Dhurvest Patel told The Leader-Post Tuesday when speaking about his late cousin Piyushkumar Patel, who had just wrapped up a month-long work trip in India and was on his way to surprise his little girl when tragedy struck. Article content Article content Article content Dhurvest was among the approximately 100 people who attended a memorial service at the Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul Rajkot Sansthan temple in south Regina Monday evening to pray for the at least 270 lives lost when London-bound flight AI 171 crashed into a residential building shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad, India on June 12. Article content Article content Mostly wearing white to symbolize purity and peace, the group joined together in an invocation prayer of Om Shanti Shanti Shanti — a wish for peace for the departed souls and strength for the grieving family. Article content People came up to a microphone one at a time to reflect on the lives lost in western India. Some women wiped tears from their face, inhaling before joining everyone in softly clapping along with the calm chanting songs. Article content Dhurvest — who, aside from Piyushkumar's wife and children, is his only other relative in Regina — said he is especially thankful for the support of the local Gujarat community, which has wrapped around the family in mourning. Article content Article content 'We are making ourselves strong so his wife and kids get a better life,' Dhurvest said. Article content Article content Article content 'They don't know' Article content Dhurvest said he learned about the crash a few hours after it happened from his mother in India. Article content He said his thoughts immediately turned to his cousin's young family here in Regina, to whom he had to deliver the news. Article content 'It was a hard time for me, but there was a responsibility for me,' Dhurvest said. 'His wife and his two small daughters are here and they don't know.' Article content Ruchita and daughters Kiya, seven, and Pranshi, two, flew back to the western state of Gujarat to identify Piyushkumar's body at the hospital on Saturday, Dhurvest said. Kiya, whose seventh birthday was that day, provided a DNA sample to match to her father's remains, he said. Article content