HT Digital
GUWAHATI, JUNE 13: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday made an inspection trip to the disaster site of Air India Flight AI171 in Ahmedabad, where a deadly accident resulted in the deaths of 265 individuals. The flight heading to London crashed minutes after taking off on Thursday, leaving the nation in shock.
Modi landed at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport and went straight to the Meghaninagar locality, where the plane had crashed. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was with him as he inspected the wreckage and the officials to gauge the impact of the tragedy. His visit highlighted the magnitude of the tragedy that has plunged the country into mourning.
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The Prime Minister also met the lone survivor of the crash, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin, who is recovering in hospital. His survival has been termed as miraculous in the midst of destruction.
The ill-fated Air India flight had 242 on board, all passengers and crew members, including one-time Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. It crashed into the BJ Medical College complex, short of the airport boundary, soon after takeoff.
Early reports confirmed that the flight had 232 passengers and 10 crew on board. The dead comprised 169 Indian citizens, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian national. A total of 264 died, with the sole survivor being Ramesh.
The effect of the crash was felt beyond the victims on the plane. The impact with the medical college complex caused further ground casualties, with four MBBS students and a doctor’s wife being among those killed. This took the death toll to 265, making it one of the most fatal air crashes in Indian aviation history.
