A City in Agony: Ahmedabad Reels as Families Seek Closure After Devastating Air Crash

Ahmedabad, a city usually buzzing with life, found itself shrouded in profound sorrow and disbelief on Friday, as grieving families of victims from Thursday's catastrophic air crash converged at the main hospital. Their agonizing wait was for a solemn, yet crucial, purpose: to offer DNA samples, the only remaining hope for identifying loved ones whose lives were abruptly cut short in India's deadliest aviation disaster in recent memory.

The grim process, which commenced just hours after the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, Flight AI171 bound for London, plummeted to the ground on Thursday afternoon, continued ceaselessly through the night. As dawn broke, the true scale of the devastation began to emerge with heart-wrenching clarity.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in his home state's largest city, Ahmedabad, to personally assess the scene of the tragedy and visit those who miraculously survived or were injured when the ill-fated aircraft crashed into a college building. The gravity of the incident was further underscored by India's aviation regulators, who, in a swift order on Friday, mandated "additional maintenance actions" for Air India's entire Boeing fleet, effective immediately.

Officials have confirmed that at least 269 lives were lost in the crash of Flight AI171 and its immediate aftermath. This staggering toll includes 241 passengers and crew members. Tragically, dozens more perished on the ground, caught in the inferno as the descending plane struck the dining hall of a local college just seconds after its takeoff from a nearby airport, before exploding into a fiery abyss. Authorities caution that the death toll could regrettably climb higher as emergency teams painstakingly continue their search and recovery efforts amidst the wreckage.

Amidst the chaos and despair, scenes of raw grief unfolded. Police officers stood by, offering quiet support as a man tenderly embraced a sobbing woman, attempting to provide solace in an unbearable moment. Elsewhere, a woman wept uncontrollably, her tears a stark contrast to the grim work of nearby laborers carrying the body of a young medical student, one of the many innocent lives claimed when the plane ripped through the building.

In a glimmer of hope amidst overwhelming tragedy, only one passenger from the flight is confirmed to have survived and is currently receiving treatment for injuries. The specifics of his incredible escape remain largely unknown, pieced together from fragmented accounts.

India's Home Minister, Amit Shah, revealed the immense destructive potential of the crash, stating that the aircraft was carrying a staggering 125,000 liters (approximately 33,000 gallons) of fuel at the time of impact. After returning to the ground, the Dreamliner skidded, inflicting severe damage on buildings, before igniting into an inferno roughly a mile southwest of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The sheer intensity of the blast and subsequent flames rendered immediate rescue attempts impossible and left bodies so extensively damaged that DNA identification has become the sole method for basic recognition.

By Friday morning, Ahmedabad's health services were visibly strained, racing against time to conduct hundreds of DNA tests. Their urgent task was to facilitate the handover of victims' remains to the anxious and grief-stricken families waiting impatiently at the hospital gates.

Dr. Vijay Shah, a medical official in Ahmedabad, confirmed that over 250 bodies had been transported to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, situated less than a mile from the crash site. By Friday afternoon, the hospital had successfully collected DNA samples from more than 200 individuals. However, the wait for results remains agonizing, with officials indicating that they are not expected until Saturday evening.

The sheer volume of bodies overwhelmed the hospital's facilities. By late Friday afternoon, a pervasive, strong stench hung heavy in the air outside the medical complex, prompting volunteers to distribute masks to make the environment somewhat bearable for those waiting. Only a handful, fewer than ten bodies, had been released to relatives after the completion of identification and necessary paperwork, as confirmed by multiple medical and police officials at the hospital. Ambulances were seen queuing up, ready to transport some of the remains to other facilities for cold storage, alleviating the strain on the primary hospital.

Among the stoic crowd waiting outside the DNA testing center was Alkesh Patel, whose 70-year-old uncle, Neelkanth Patel, was a passenger on the ill-fated flight. "He was my mother's younger brother," Alkesh shared, his voice heavy with emotion, as his distraught mother sat silently on a plastic chair beside him, waiting her turn to provide a DNA sample.

Just a few steps away, Salma Rafeek Memon, clad in a traditional cotton salwar suit, was overcome with grief, sobbing quietly on a bench. She had tragically lost her nephew, his wife, and their two young children in the crash. The young family had been visiting relatives in Mumbai and were transiting through Ahmedabad on their journey back to London. "This is their photo as they bid us goodbye from Mumbai," Ms. Memon choked out, wiping tears with the edge of her stole, her cellphone displaying a heart-wrenching image of her nephew's smiling family.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, destined for London Gatwick Airport, had departed Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1:38 p.m. local time. Moments later, it crashed into the dining facility of a government medical college, a place where dozens of students were gathered for lunch, transforming an ordinary day into an unthinkable tragedy. The impact also caused extensive damage to nearby apartment buildings, home to doctors and their families.

As the city mourns, international support for the investigation is already materializing. Air accident investigators from Britain and the United States are expected to arrive in India to aid in determining the cause of the catastrophic disaster. In a crucial development, India’s civil aviation minister announced on Friday that the plane’s flight data recorder, commonly known as the black box, had been successfully recovered, offering a vital key to unlocking the mysteries of this devastating crash.