Ahmedabad: One year after the Air India AI-171 crash tore through the BJ Medical College hostel complex and surrounding neighbourhood in Ahmedabad, the Patni family returned to the crash site carrying memories of a 15-year-old boy whose final afternoon had unfolded with the ordinariness of any summer day.
Akash Patni, a Class 7 student who loved playing cricket, had spent the afternoon helping his mother, Sitaben, who ran a tea stall near the hostel complex.
He brought lunch for her, ate with her, and then lay down to rest in the shade beside the stall.
Minutes later, the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into the area, killing 260 people in one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters, including passengers, crew members, medical students, doctors and residents on the ground.
The aircraft struck the BJ Medical College hostel and canteen complex shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad airport.
Standing at the site on the first anniversary of the tragedy, Akash’s aunt, Hansaben, recounted the sequence of events that changed the family’s life forever.
“He had brought a tiffin for his mother. First, both of them sat together and ate. There was good shade there, so he lay down and went to sleep,” she told IANS.
Pointing towards the spot where the family once operated the tea stall, she said Akash had chosen to sleep on a cot placed under a shaded area while his mother returned to work.
“His mother came back to make tea. While she was making tea, the plane crashed and fell,” she said.
The crash occurred at around 1.40 p.m., when Akash was asleep. His mother survived but suffered severe burn injuries while trying to reach him.
According to the family, Sitaben saw the aircraft come down and rushed towards her son. Before she could reach him, a powerful explosion engulfed the area.
“She ran to save him, but there was a blast. An electric transformer also exploded. A part of the aircraft fell there,” Hansaben said.
Sitaben sustained burns to her face, back and waist. Doctors later informed the family that nearly 40 per cent of her body had been burned. “Her face was burned. Her back was burned. The lower part of her body was burned. Her condition was very serious,” Hansaben recalled.
The injuries were so severe that people decided not to immediately tell her that Akash had died. For days, family members concealed the truth while she remained under treatment.
“She kept asking about him. At home, we called him ‘Gadu’. She would ask, ‘How is my Gadu?’ Everyone told her he was fine and that he was in the ICU,” Hansaben said.
She added, “They told her the doctors were not allowing anyone inside. They kept saying he was receiving treatment because they feared the shock might worsen her condition.”
The family itself spent hours searching for Akash before learning what had happened. “When people said Akash was not there, I thought maybe he had run away somewhere after seeing the accident. We were searching for him everywhere,” Sitaben told IANS.
The family says Akash’s body was recovered and identified six days after the crash. The loss has left deep scars across the family. Akash’s father, an auto-rickshaw driver, was away at work when the crash occurred.
The family’s tea stall, which had operated at the site for nearly 20 years, was destroyed. “Those who died are gone, but those who are alive have also died in a way. His father cannot eat properly. He cannot sleep. The crying has never stopped,” Sitaben emotionally said.
The family received compensation, which had been announced for victims’ kin following the disaster. Yet, a year later, questions continue to linger for many families affected by the crash.
“We have no information about how it happened or why it happened. People say different things. Some say it was the pilot’s mistake. Some say there was a fault in the aircraft. We do not know,” Hansaben told IANS.
She, however, rejected suggestions that the pilot deliberately caused the disaster. “I do not think it was the pilot’s fault. He also had a family. He lost his own life. Why would he knowingly do something like that?” she said.
The first anniversary was marked by prayers and tributes near the crash site, where damaged hostel buildings still stand as reminders of the disaster.
The state government has announced plans to demolish the damaged B.J. Medical College hostel complex and construct a new facility at the site with financial support from the Tata Group.
For the Patni family, however, the site remains less a place of redevelopment than a place of memory. “We do not come here often. When we see this place, everything comes back. We remember how many people died here,” Sitaben said.
A photograph of Akash now stands where the family’s tea stall once served students and doctors.
(IANS)
