Pramila Patil, mother of crew member Maithili Patil, who died in the ill-fated Air India plane crash on June 12, reacted to the preliminary report of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and said Air India can't cause such negligence.
At least 265 bodies were sent to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital for post-mortem after the crash on Thursday. Of these, only six victims were identified as their faces were intact, inspector Chirag Gosai said.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram fell unconscious at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on Tuesday and was taken to hospital. Sources said he probably fainted due to the heat after a hectic day. His son Karti later said on X that his father is fine and is being examined by doctors. The incident occurred during a prayer meeting at the ashram. Chidambaram was carried to an ambulance by other leaders. Earlier in the day, he attended the extended Congress Working Committee meeting at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday dedicated to the nation the 182-metre statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the tallest in the world, and said it will be a reminder about the courage of a man who thwarted efforts to disintegrate India.
An upcoming book by investigative journalist Chitra Subramaniam claims that senior Indian bureaucrats "tutored" Bofors officials in a secret meeting in 1987 on how to absolve then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of all blame in the infamous bribery scandal. The book, "Boforsgate," details how the meeting was held to cover up the alleged Rs 64 crore bribe in a Rs 1,437 crore deal for Howitzer guns, and how Indian officials provided advice on concealing information from investigators. Subramaniam's revelations are based on documents provided to her by the Swedish head of police investigating the Bofors case.
Authorities are carrying out DNA tests to establish the identity of the victims as many bodies were charred beyond recognition or badly damaged in the deadly June 12 crash.
"Commonwealth Games in India would leave lasting impact by boosting tourism, and creating jobs, the Government said in a statement.
'70-80 per cent of the operations are carried out by the SDRF...We also aim to secure the area to make sure that further damage does not take place'
"My husband called me at 1.14pm to tell me his meeting is over and that he is on his way home. However, when he did not return, I called up on his phone but it was switched off. After police was intimated, the last location of his mobile phone showed he was 700 metres away from the crash site," she said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday raked up another controversy over Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, with L K Advani quoting a book to allege that then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru called his home minister a "total communalist" when the latter suggested that army be sent to take over a defiant Hyderabad State after Independence.
Teams have been formed and assigned to individual families with a rank of a deputy collector or tehsildar rank officer. Bodies will be handed over to the families and taken in ambulance to the village or district with a police pilot, Pandey said.
Efforts are on recover the black box of the Air India flight AI 171 which crashed in Ahmedabad as its analysis will provide vital clues about what triggered the disaster, said police and Fire Brigade officials on Friday.
A local who resides near the AI-171 crash site said that people rescued injured students from the BJ Medical College. He added that people were alive when they rescued them, but two died on their way to the hospital.
The area around the crash site is densely populated.
As a Congress-Bharatiya Janata Party war of words broke out over Sardar Patel's legacy, Congress on Thursday portrayed Narendra Modi with his "designer clothes and branded glasses" as a contrast to India's Iron Man, "who saved Muslims during 1947 riots" and was "humility personified".
Here is a look at the sequence of events leading to the deadly crash:
Hindi Diwas was observed across India with leaders emphasizing Hindi's role as a unifying factor and the need to enrich all Indian languages. Events were held in India and abroad to promote the language.
The Air India plane AI-171 from Ahmedabad to London crashed immediately after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Ahmedabad airport on Thursday, as per the Gujarat State Police Control Room.
The east-west connector, earlier known as the Carnac Bridge and named after former Bombay Province governor James Rivett Carnac, who held the office from 1839 to 1841, has been rechristened as 'Sindoor Bridge' (after Operation Sindoor).
Bhoomi Chauhan, a resident of Gujarat's Bharuch, narrowly escaped death when she missed Thursday's ill-fated flight which crashed, claiming the lives of 241 people on board the Boeing 787-8, Air India flight 171, including 12 crew members, Air India confirmed post-midnight on Friday.
There has been no official information about his condition or whereabouts, his sister said.
Neither anyone from the airline (Air India), nor from the government has contacted them so far, he said.
Speaking about the building in which the plane crashed, the eyewitness said, "It is a residential building, doctors live there."
Families of victims of the Air India plane crash have hired a US law firm to explore legal options, seeking answers and accountability.
Several foreign experts were seen scouting the crash site for the last two days, checking the debris to find clues.
An official expressed hope that the DNA profiling all the victims will be completed by either Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning.
A 26-year-old man, Anandu Krishnan, has been arrested for allegedly defrauding people across Kerala by promising them scooters, sewing machines, and home appliances at half price. The accused claimed to use Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds from big companies. The case has taken a political turn with the involvement of Congress leader Lali Vincent, who served as a legal advisor to an NGO involved in the transactions. Vincent defended Krishnan and said he was not a fraudster, claiming he was made a scapegoat after those who promised CSR funds backed away. The case is being investigated by the Kerala police, who are also looking into the role of certain political leaders in the fraud.
"Based on this consensus, the process of disengagement is almost complete. Our efforts will be to take the matter beyond disengagement; but for that, we will have to wait a little longer," he added.
T20 Mumbai final: Teams observe minute's silence, wear black armbands for Ahmedabad crash victims
It is India's worst aviation disaster since the 2020 Kozhikode crash.
Taking a dig at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's remarks on Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh said if the 'Iron Man' had become the nation's first prime minister then both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh would have been non-existent.
On the one-month anniversary of the Air India flight 171 crash that killed 241 passengers and 19 on the ground, relatives of passengers expressed renewed anxieties as they saw loved ones depart on the same route.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday accused Ahmed Patel of having "deep relations" with a Gujarat hospital where an alleged Islamic State operative worked before his arrest, even as the Congress defended its senior leader, dubbing the demand for his resignation from the Rajya Sabha as "outrageous".
Abul Kalam Azad chose not to contest Congress Presidency and to throw his weight behind Nehru, instead of Patel, a decision he would come to regret. Patel would have seen his plan through, while Nehru, in Azad's opinion 'gave Jinnah the opportunity to sabotage' it, notes Aakar Patel.
Air India pilots said Ahmedabad airport has long been known for bird activity near the runway, which could have contributed to the incident.
Remarks by Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar about how the British dealt with icons of Indian freedom struggle on Tuesday touched off a controversy, forcing him to issue a clarification.
The Indian diaspora in London has been rallying around to coordinate fundraisers to support the UK-based family members of the Ahmedabad plane crash victims, including urgent assistance for two orphaned children.
He said Gujarat wants to move forward but is unable to see the way ahead, and the Congress is unable to show it the way.
'It's important for India to think about areas where it wants the US to move.' 'We can be far more innovative in what we ask the US.' 'Given that there's a package deal, why not do it?'
Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India plane crash, has been discharged from the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital following his recovery, and he later attended the cremation of his deceased brother who was flying with him on the same aircraft, officials said on Wednesday.
