Daughter awaits at graduation, but family never arrives
Vadodara: What was meant to be a moment of pride and celebration turned into a nightmare no family could anticipate. A joint family from Vasad in Anand district, planned to reunite in London for a milestone — the graduation ceremony of their daughter, Dhvani Patel.
Instead, grief now hangs heavy over their home, with three family members lost in Thursday's crash.
Rajnikant Patel (58), his wife Divya Patel (54) and his sister-in-law Hemangini Patel (58) had boarded Flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick, looking forward to celebrating Dhvani's MBA convocation at Middlesex University on June 23. Moments after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, the aircraft crashed.
It claimed the lives of 33 people from Anand district alone.
"My sister, Dhvani, is in East London, studying business and management. We were all excited to be there with her as she received her MBA degree. It was supposed to be a family moment," said Parth Patel, Hemangini's son, struggling to hold back tears. "Instead, I'm now planning funerals."
The Patel family, who own the Krishna Riverside Resort in Vasad, were known for their warmth, hospitality, and being a tightly knit household.
Living together on High School Road, their home was always bustling with relatives, guests and laughter. Now it stands eerily quiet.
For Parth, the tragedy is a cruel blow upon another. "Just last year, I lost my father, Arun Patel, to a heart attack. Now I've lost my mother, uncle and aunt. In one year, I've been left almost alone," he said. Now, only he, his wife, his daughter and cousin sister remain from what was once a vibrant family unit.
The pain has been compounded by the wait to identify the deceased. "We're waiting for my 'foi' (paternal aunt) to arrive from the US — only her DNA sample can confirm my uncle's identity. She's on her way," said Parth.
The loss is not limited to the family. The Patels were well-respected in Vasad — a town known for its toor dal and defined by its sense of community.
"Rajnikant wasn't just a neighbour, he was a dear friend. His death is a deeply personal loss," said Anand MP Mitesh Patel, who, along with Kheda MP Devusinh Chauhan, visited the grieving family on Friday.
Follow more information on
Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here
. Get
real-time live updates
on rescue operations and check
full list of passengers onboard AI 171
.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
7 hours ago
- Economic Times
How AAIB is failing its biggest test yet
Crash. Silence. Confusion. How India's air accident watchdog is failing its biggest test yet Nearly two weeks after the devastating Air India flight AI171 crash, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has remained quiet. There have been no preliminary findings and no interim reports. In this silence, theories and speculation grow. Oil, war, and the Hormuz gambit: Why the 2025 standoff won't mirror the 2022 shock! Despite a dramatic price FONT SIZE SAVE PRINT COMMENT Refer & Earn
India.com
a day ago
- India.com
Mumbai-Bound Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Passengers Fall Ill: Report
A Mumbai-bound Ethiopian Airlines flight made an emergency landing in the city at around 1:40 am on Friday, reportedly after seven passengers onboard fell sick. According to a report by The Times of India, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft experienced a 'depressurisation' issue. Meanwhile, upon landing, the sick were attended by a medical team at the airport. Furthermore, one of the individuals who fell ill required hospitalisation. The issue reportedly started when the aircraft was over the Arabian Sea. Heathrow-Mumbai AI Flight Earlier, on June 23, ANI reported, citing an Air India Spokesperson, that on board flight AI130 from London Heathrow to Mumbai, five passengers and two crew reported feeling dizzy and nauseous during different phases of the flight. The flight had landed safely in Mumbai, where the medical teams provided immediate medical assistance. After landing, two passengers and two cabin crew, who continued to feel sick, were taken to the medical room for further examination and were later discharged. Air India Ahmedabad Crash The issues also come at a time when the nation is reeling from the aftermath of the tragic Air India flight AI171 crash in Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff on June 12. The flight had departed from Ahmedabad at 1:38 pm and had 242 passengers, including crew members, on board. Notably, it was a Boeing 787-8 aircraft. The ill-fated plane crashed into the building of BJ Medical College and resulted in deaths and injuries to individuals who were not onboard. The government and authorities sprang into action. According to a release of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, dated June 26, 2025, both the Cockpit Voice Recorders (CVR) and Flight Data Recorders (FDR) were recovered—one from the rooftop of the building at the crash site and the other from the debris. "Subsequently, the black boxes were brought from Ahmedabad to Delhi by IAF aircraft with full security on 24 June, 2025. The front black box arrived at AAIB Lab, Delhi with the DG, AAIB at 1400 hrs on 24 June, 2025. The rear black box was brought by a second AAIB team and reached AAIB Lab, Delhi at 1715 hrs on 24 June, 2025," the release added.
India Today
a day ago
- India Today
Survivor's guilt, scorn: How Vishwaskumar Ramesh is dealing with life and loss after Air India crash
The gift of life may turn into a curse if you are the only survivor of a plane crash that claimed 271 lives, including 241 co-passengers—one of them your brother. British national of Indian origin Vishwaskumar Ramesh, 40, who miraculously escaped when Air India Flight AI171 plunged into an Ahmedabad medical college compound shortly after take-off on June 12, appears to have battled severe survivor's has been unable to sleep. His survival came at a profound cost—the loss of brother Ajay, 45, who was seated just across the aisle on seat 11J. Ramesh was the occupant of 11A. Besides the heavy burden of survivor's guilt, his ordeal was compounded by a baseless businessman from Leicester, UK, described the crash as a blur of terror. 'Thirty seconds into take-off, there was a loud noise and the plane crashed. It was sudden. When I woke up, I found bodies all around me,' Ramesh has told DD News channel from his hospital seat, it seems, detached during the crash, landing in a narrow gap between buildings where loose soil cushioned the fall, saving him from the fireball that the aircraft turned into. 'The plane broke and my seat came off,' Ramesh told doctors, recounting how he had unbuckled himself and crawled through a shattered fuselage, his left hand burned by flames. The brothers, natives of Diu, were returning to the UK after visiting family in their ancestral village of Bucharwada. Ramesh has returned to his village, where he is refusing to interact with anyone except footage of the air tragedy had captured him stumbling barefoot through the plane's debris, shouting, 'Plane fatyo che! (The plane exploded!)', even as he tried to return to the wreckage to find Ajay, only to be restrained by first guilt, a well-documented psychological phenomenon, likely gripped Ramesh in the days that followed. Clinical studies describe it as a profound sense of remorse or unworthiness experienced by those who survive a tragedy while others, especially loved ones, do survivor's guilt can manifest as intrusive thoughts, depression or a fixation on 'why me?'. Ramesh's repeated statements—'I don't know how I survived' and 'I still can't believe I'm alive'—suggest a struggle to process it all. His proximity to Ajay during the crash likely amplified his sense of responsibility, as if he could have done something to save his public nature of his suffering, amplified by viral videos, may have further complicated his ability to grieve privately, as the world watched his every move. The heart-wrenching visuals of Ramesh, bandaged and limping, carrying Ajay's coffin during the funeral procession in Diu on June 18, underscored his grief. Ramesh broke down multiple times, shouldering his brother's bier alongside their father, Ramesh Bhalia, as the family Ramesh grappled with his loss, a disturbing rumour surfaced on social media. It suggested he had fabricated his presence on the flight. The rumour spread rapidly, fuelled by the sensational nature of the crash and the public's fascination with his survival. The origins of it are unclear, possibly stemming from misinformation or scepticism about how someone could survive such a catastrophic event June 20, actor and singer Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, in her now-deleted post, said: 'So this #vishwaskumarramesh lied about being a passenger on the plane & the only survivor? This is seriously weird. Didn't his family in the UK corroborate his story? What about his brother's funeral that he was seen giving kandha to? Deserve not only some serious punishment but some mental asylum time if this is true, uff.'Within hours, several independent social media influencers and users circulated reels and posts, joining the bandwagon of scepticism against Ramesh, and a rumour that he was arrested by police caught the backlash was also swift. Social media users condemned Krishnamoorthi for her insensitivity, pointing to overwhelming evidence of Ramesh's survival: hospital records, police confirmation, Air India's passenger manifest listing him on seat 11A, and video footage of him emerging from the wreckage. However, videos and posts continue to police commissioner G.S. Malik and Dr Dhaval Gameti, who treated Ramesh at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, confirmed his identity and injuries, noting he was 'disoriented with multiple injuries' but out of danger. Ramesh's survival was not only verified but celebrated by authorities, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah visiting him in hospital. And yet, the rumour's brief traction reveals how quickly public perception can shift from empathy to scepticism, particularly in high-profile to India Today Magazine- EndsTune InTrending Reel
