Ahmedabad Residents Live with Scars One Year After Air India Plane Crash
For Prahlod Thakur, the photographs of his wife, Sarlaben, and granddaughter, Aadhya, are the first thing he sees each morning. Both were among the 19 victims killed on the ground when an Air India flight crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad last June, less than 2km from the airport. The crash also claimed 241 lives on the plane.
Thakur’s family ran a tiffin service for doctors at the adjacent hospitals. Sarlaben was working at the mess, with two-year-old Aadhya by her side, when the aircraft struck. Thakur recalls the explosion and his desperate search through the debris for his family, eventually finding them in a hospital mortuary six days later.
A year on, the damaged hostel complex stands, its upper floors exposed, concrete slabs hanging precariously. Soot stains the walls, and personal effects remain buried under rubble. While officials have approved plans for demolition and reconstruction, the wreckage persists, a permanent scar on the landscape.
Students like Arman Khan Pathan and Aditya Dayal, trainee doctors, recount the horror of the crash. Arman, trapped under debris in the mess, struggled to breathe amidst explosions and dust. Aditya arrived shortly after, helping to carry the injured and witnessing the arrival of unrecognisable bodies at the hospital, a smell that still haunts him.
The city's attention has largely moved on, but for those directly affected, the impact remains. Brijesh, who sustained burn injuries, still undergoes physiotherapy. Locals like Vijay, who assisted in the immediate aftermath, are still plagued by the images of the devastation. Meenakshi Parikh, the college dean, recalls the multitude of tragedies encapsulated in the single event, from parents searching for children to the overwhelming grief of her staff.
Despite the resumption of college life and plans for remembrance, Parikh notes that moving forward is not the same as moving on. For Prahlod Thakur, the sound of aeroplanes overhead, once unremarkable, now carries a different, painful meaning. He, like many others, no longer looks at the sky.
