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The Sun
21 hours ago
- General
- The Sun
Survival and loss in Air India plane disaster
AHMEDABAD: 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'.
France 24
a day ago
- General
- France 24
Survival and loss in Air India plane disaster
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".
The Age
2 days ago
- General
- The Age
‘Didn't know what to do': Students were eating lunch when plane struck dining hall
The medical students in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad were eating lunch on Thursday when an Air India passenger plane crashed into their dining hall. Intern Mohit Chavda said he was halfway through his meal of lentils, cabbage and bread when the disaster struck. 'We only heard a blast,' he said. 'Then we just saw the dust and smoke coming inside with force.' In the aftermath of India's worst aviation disaster in decades, the ripped-off tail of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner could be seen jutting out of the building as firefighters quelled the flames. In the dining hall, lunch plates were left half-finished. While police officials have put the death toll from the crash at 269 people, they have cautioned that a final figure will take time to ascertain. Many of the bodies are charred and are being identified and counted through DNA testing. All but one of the 242 passengers and crew aboard the jet, which was headed to London, are confirmed dead, the airline said. Rescue personnel at the site, as well as doctors and security officials, suggested that at least three dozen other people had been killed on the ground.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Didn't know what to do': Students were eating lunch when plane struck dining hall
The medical students in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad were eating lunch on Thursday when an Air India passenger plane crashed into their dining hall. Intern Mohit Chavda said he was halfway through his meal of lentils, cabbage and bread when the disaster struck. 'We only heard a blast,' he said. 'Then we just saw the dust and smoke coming inside with force.' In the aftermath of India's worst aviation disaster in decades, the ripped-off tail of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner could be seen jutting out of the building as firefighters quelled the flames. In the dining hall, lunch plates were left half-finished. While police officials have put the death toll from the crash at 269 people, they have cautioned that a final figure will take time to ascertain. Many of the bodies are charred and are being identified and counted through DNA testing. All but one of the 242 passengers and crew aboard the jet, which was headed to London, are confirmed dead, the airline said. Rescue personnel at the site, as well as doctors and security officials, suggested that at least three dozen other people had been killed on the ground.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- General
- Straits Times
Air India crash: Medical students were eating lunch when plane hit their dining hall
The medical students in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad were eating lunch on June 12 when an Air India passenger plane crashed into their dining hall. PHOTO: EPA-EFE Follow our live coverage here. AHMEDABAD - The medical students in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad were eating lunch on June 12 when an Air India passenger plane crashed into their dining hall. 'We only heard a blast,' said Mr Mohit Chavda, an intern who was halfway through his meal of lentils, cabbage and bread when the disaster struck. 'Then we just saw the dust and smoke coming inside with force.' In the aftermath of India's worst aviation disaster in decades, the ripped-off tail of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner could be seen jutting out of the building, as firefighters quelled the flames. In the dining hall, lunch plates were left half-finished. While police officials have put the death toll from the crash at 269 people, they have cautioned that a final figure will take time to ascertain. Many of the bodies are charred and are being identified and counted through DNA testing. All but one of the 242 passengers and crew aboard the jet, which was headed to London, are confirmed dead, the airline said. Rescue personnel at the site, as well as doctors and security officials, suggested that at least three dozen other people had been killed on the ground. Among the dead were at least four medical students, said Dr Minakshi Parikh, the dean of B.J. Medical College, whose campus is near the end of the airport runway. Dozens of others are being treated at the city's main hospital. 'Most of the students escaped, but 10 or 12 were trapped in the fire,' Dr Parikh said. Verified video shows the plane descending, almost as if on a glide, and then a fireball rising in its place. Photos and verified videos from the crash site show widespread carnage and medical workers carrying the bodies of victims into ambulances. Images emerging from the scene show a blackened tangle of wreckage. The aircraft appears to have broken into large pieces, with one wing lying on a roadway. Firefighters could be seen spraying down burned-out buildings and sooty, cracked trees as they stepped carefully around hunks of debris. Dr Bharat Ahir, who reached the scene soon after the crash, said he feared that casualties in a nearby residential complex, a multi-storey block where doctors and their families live, could outnumber those at the dining facility. 'The plane's back part is stuck in the dining hall, and the front hit the residential building,' he said. Mr Chavda, the intern, said the building's proximity to the airport means residents are used to high-intensity noise, particularly from air force engines. So at first they thought it might just be a plane flying too low. Then it went dark. 'We didn't know what to do – it was like our brains stopped working,' he said. 'We just got up and started running. We couldn't see anything, but there is muscle memory: We knew which way the exit was.' Only after they escaped did they grasp what happened. 'We only realised that there had been a plane crash once we got downstairs and saw the airplane's tail,' Mr Chavda said. He said he had immediately feared that the residential complex, separated from the dining hall by just a narrow road, had sustained worse damage. 'The fourth floor walls were broken,' he said. 'The doctors were at the hospital on duty, and their families were in the building. There are many casualties among them.' NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
