Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India] June 13 : A day after the devastating AI 171, plane crash near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Survivors--students, professors, staff, and family members--were seen evacuating with luggage from the premises BJ Medical College doctors' hostel on Friday.
The London-bound Air India flight had tragically crashed into a residential section of the Medical College, housing doctors, students, and their families.
Second-year resident doctor Dr. Tarun, who barely escaped with his life and bearing visible injuries, shared his horrifying experience and said, "The fire was very intense. It was not possible to get out of my flat, so I jumped from the balcony. That's how I survived. We are not going home right now. We will go wherever we get an accommodation... We did not even have the essentials with us. We got an opportunity to get our things from inside, so that's what we are doing for now..."
Assistant Professor Dr. Piyush recounted his narrow escape, "I escaped from the building and then jumped over the boundary wall in front. That's how I got a sprain. If I had waited for 15-20 seconds inside more, I would have died of suffocation or asphyxiation... Many people lived inside with their families..."
The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick with 242 passengers crashed in Meghaninagar area shortly after it took off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. 241 people were killed in the crash.
Meanwhile, the father of Nganthoi Sharma Kongbrailatpam, an air hostess who died in the plane crash, has claimed that he has still not gotten any assistance from either Air India or the state government after his daughter passed away, with him only getting news about the crash and other rescue efforts from social media.
"Air India has not informed us of anything. I got the information only through social media, like the crash, and other things. I got information on that, but after that, what was to be done or what would happen, we were not told. No one from Air India came to our house to tell about it, or even from the government," the victim's father, Kongrailatpam Nandesh Kumar Sharma, said.
21-year-old Nganthoi Sharma Kongbrailatpam was part of the cabin crew on Air India flight AI 171. Breaking down in front of journalists here, he demanded answers from the state government on whether they will assist the families affected.
"I just want the government should say something, take care of the family. Now that she (his daughter) is gone, she is gone. I only have 3 daughters. So what will I say? I have no words," he said.
Earlier, the Tata group announced 1 crore to be given to the families of the deceased and the injured.
A team of caregivers sent from Air India also arrived in Ahmedabad yesterday. Air India said that among the 242 passengers, 169 were Indians, 53 Britishers, seven Portuguese and one Canadian national. Immediately after departure from Runway 23, the aircraft fell on the ground outside the airport perimeter.