UK air accident investigators have arrived in India as tributes continue to pour in for victims of the Air India disaster. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after take-off on Thursday in what is one of the deadliest plane accidents in terms of the number of British nationals killed.
It struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad, killing 241 of the 242 people on board. At least 25 more bodies were found in the debris by recovery crews working at the site until Friday evening, officials said, and it is unclear whether they had been on the flight or on the ground.
The Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad has received 270 bodies, Dr Dhaval Gameti told the Associated Press. The sole surviving passenger, British man Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, is still under observation for some of his injuries but is “doing very well and will be ready to be discharged any time soon”, Dr Gameti said.
The UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) announced on Friday night that four of its investigators had arrived in India and have expertise in aircraft operations, engineering and recorded data. The “release of information on the investigation rests solely with the Indian authorities”, it added.
The black box flight recorder was recovered from a roof near the crash site and could reveal vital clues about the cause of the accident. Hundreds of relatives have provided DNA samples to help officials identify victims’ remains
A radiologist from Derby who had a “newly discovered love of fish and chips” was on the flight with his family, the city’s Hindu Temple said. Dr Prateek Joshi, who worked at the Royal Derby Hospital, moved to the UK from India in 2021, a colleague said.
Dr Rajeev Singh said: “He often entertained colleagues with stories about his passions outside of work, including his newly discovered love of fish and chips and enthusiasm for walking in the Peak District. It is hard to accept that a man with such a passion for life, and his beautiful young family, have been taken in this way.”
Two sisters in their early 20s on their way home to London after surprising their grandmother for her birthday are also said to be among the victims. A cousin who lives in Ahmedabad said fashion designer Dhir and product manager Heer Baxi had an “amazing aura”.
“They both had aspirations to be successful enough to roam around the world along with the parents,” Ishan Baxi said. Both women knew “what is right and what is wrong”, he added.
“Right now, no one is able to come to terms because they both came here just to celebrate grandma’s birthday but… they came, they celebrated, and they both left the world, everything is vanished right in front of our eyes.” A couple who had already lost their only son in a previous aviation tragedy were on the plane, said Shri Rajrajeshwar Guruji, who leads the Siddhashram Shakti Centre in Harrow, north-west London.
“This couple had gone to India for a religious celebration – they were coming back and now this has happened,” he said. “After what has happened to their son as well – it’s just terrible to think about.”
A family of three from Gloucester were also on the flight, their family said. Akeel Nanabawa, Hannaa Vorajee and their four-year-old daughter Sara Nanabawa were “widely loved and deeply respected”.
Ms Vorajee volunteered at a local Islamic school and was also a director of an organisation promoting understanding of the religion, an imam said. Mr Nanabawa ran a recruitment firm called Iceberg Recruitment Services which had a branch in Ahmedabad, according to the company’s website.
Speaking in Gloucester on Friday, Zaheera Nanabawa said her cousin Akeel was the “glue” that held the family together.
“They were away as part of their trip to Singapore and Malaysia, before they went to India,” she said. “This whole news is absolutely shocking and devastating for us, and it will leave a hole within our family.”
Their imam, Abdullah Samad, said: “This young family was incredibly close-knit – devoted parents and their beautiful young daughter.” The British survivor spoke of the horror of watching people “dying in front of my eyes”.
From his hospital bed on Friday, Mr Ramesh told DD News: “I still can’t believe how I survived.” The 40-year-old told the broadcaster the plane felt like it was “stuck in the air” shortly after take-off before lights began flickering green and white, adding: “It suddenly slammed into a building and exploded.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has been in contact with him to offer consular support, Downing Street said. The crash site was visited by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, with video footage showing him talking to Mr Ramesh in hospital.
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