Ahmedabad Plane Crash: UK-based Indian man travels to Gujarat to fulfil wife's last wish, dies in Air India tragedy

A UK-based Indian man who had arrived in Gujarat to fulfil his late wife's last wish was among the 265 people killed in the tragic Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday, i.e., June 12. As per an India Today report, Arjun Manubhai Patolia, 36, had returned to his ancestral village of Vadiya in Amreli district to immerse his late wife, Bharatiben's ashes in the Narmada river. 

Bharatiben had died just a week before in London, UK. Before this, she had appealed to her husband to immerse her ashes in the river. After completing the rituals, Patolia had boarded the ill-fated plane to return home to his two daughters -- aged 4 and 8. On Thursday, he caught the London-bound plane from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport and tragedy struck. 

"He had a ticket on Air India flight AI171. He was supposed to go to London, but the accident happened," Krish Jagdish Patolia, Arjun's nephew, told India Today. Expressing grief over the incident, he added that it's heartbreaking that the family lost both of them within a week. 

One of worst disasters in aviation history

The Air India flight AI171 crashed within five minutes after its take-off at the Ahmedabad-based airport. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a medical college hostel, leaving several dead. Videos circulating on social media showed the plane struggling to gain altitude, before it slammed into the building and turned into a massive fireball. 

There were 242 passengers, including 169 Indians and 53 British nationals, and 12 crew members on the plane. Only one survivor, Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, survived who is currently undergoing treatment at Civil Hospital. Ex-Gujarat Chief Minister, Vijay Rupani, also died in the tragic plane crash. 

Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ahmedabad and met with the injured who are receiving treatment at Civil Hospital. The Prime Minister also met with the grief-stricken family members of the former Gujarat CM. 

"Met those injured in the aftermath of the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad, including the lone survivor and assured them that we are with them and their families in this tough time. The entire nation is praying for their speedy recovery", PM Modi wrote on 'X'.