Families clinging to hope after the deadly Airlines crashes

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IMTIYAZ AlI Sayed IMTIYAZ Ali SayedItyaz Ali Sayed

Everyone died, except for one person, on a flight in London in the accident

IMTIYAZ Ali Sayed rejects sadness.

Not when the news broke out for the first time – that his younger brother Javid, with the wife of Javed and two children, had perished in the destroyed Indian flight in Ahmed Abad on Thursday afternoon.

Not yet, after more than 10 hours, as the watch starts at three in the morning, and he is walking in the sterile paths of the hospital where their bodies lie, refused to sit, and refused to accept.

The authorities confirmed that only one of 242 people on the flight to London had survived. DNA is now underway to determine the victims.

Mr. Sayed, a Mumbai -based businessman, is one of the dozens of families waiting to be closed after one of the worst airlines in India.

He says that until he sees the body of his brother – or “everything that remains of him” – with his eyes, he will continue to search for him.

“You don’t understand. My life was – if I surrendered now, I might never be able to recover,” he says.

Then he is tired on his phone, and shows pictures of his nephew and nephew, including some of them were taken just moments before the independence of the trip.

Mr. Sayed remembers how their older sister was supposed to travel to London with Jafid, but he could not get a ticket. Then he is silent. Outside, the night deepens, and the sky darkens in slow degrees.

Minutes later, he picks up his phone again – this time to show a series of messages that Jafid sent after hearing the accident.

“See”, as he says, holds the screen. “They still get their delivery. This should mean something, right?”

AFP was photographed via Getty Images Debris of Air India Flight 171 after they were crashed into a residential area near the airport in Ahmed Abad on June 13, 2025. Sniffer dogs combed the crash on June 13 from a plane owned in London that was deprived in a residential area in India Ahmedabad in India. (Photo Punit Paranjpe / AFP) (Photo by Punit Paranjpe / AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images

The wreckage of the Air India plane after crashing in a residential area near the airport in Ahmedabad

The tragedy was revealed in seconds: Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner stormed a flame shortly after taking off from Ahmed Abad Sardar Valpay Patel International, where it collided with a medical college in a residential neighborhood crowded extensively.

“There was a loud roar, a silent screaming, then suddenly, the fire, iron and crucifixion began in the rain from the sky,” said Mukish, a driver living about 15 minutes from the accident.

“When the rescuers arrived for the first time, they found shrapnel from the plane that was so shattered that it was difficult to tell the pieces regardless of the human remains,” a senior health official in Ahmedabad told the BBC.

Since the collapse, an unpleasant smell has been attached to the area while smoke was released from debris late at night.

The authorities say they are working to determine the victims, but the scale of destruction made the task very difficult.

A volunteer at the BBC Civil Hospital, provided that his identity is not disclosed, that many bodies are badly charred and mixed, to determine the physical identity.

“It is like trying to tell ash regardless of ash.”

For families, waiting was eligible. Many have closed outside the hospital – in cars or in the streets – their wicked screams across the corridors.

Samir Sheikh’s wife cannot stop crying. Their son, Erfan – a member of the Indian flight crew – did not contact him much, but he was always a messenger before taking off and after landing.

So when the airline contacted that afternoon, Mr. Shahaikh was confused. Irfan was supposed to be on his way to London.

“But instead, we discovered that he died in a crash.”

Sheikh, who lives in Pion, flew to Ahmed Abad with his family to collect the body of his son. An official in India at the Civil Hospital helped him in the identification process.

“But the police did not allow us to restore my son,” he says. “They asked us to return within three days, after the completion of the DNA samples of all victims.”

Destroyed, the couple was looking for help – and answers.

“What do we have to do?” He asks, referring to his wife, sitting in a street corner, crying. “How can we wait three days when we know he is our son?”

AFP Haddad via Getty Images their relatives while waiting for the DNA tests, so that the identity of their loved ones is identified, at an emergency center in Ahmedabad on June 13, 2025, a day after the crash of Inde 'in a residential area. The rescue teams with Sniffer Dogs combed the crash site on June 13 from a passenger plane in London, which was pushed into a residential area in the Indian city of Ahmedabad, killing at least 265 people on board. (Photo Punit Paranjpe / AFP) (Photo by Punit Paranjpe / AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images

Relatives stand waiting for the results of the DNA to determine the loved ones at the emergency center in Ahmedabad

The sheikh is not alone in their pain. Directly throughout the city, another tragedy is still revealing – this is at the site in particular where the plane fell.

BJ Civil College Hospital has become one of the most respected institutions in Ahmed Abad, zero when the plane crashed into its hostel on Thursday. The losses have been reported, but complete losses are still unclear.

Payal Thakur is impatiently walking, looking for any news about her mother, Sarla, who worked as a cook in the youth house. It was in the back of the building – the place that the plane hit.

Today’s events, Mrs. Thakur says that her family, who works in the hospital, left to work at about 13:00 local time.

“The plan was to provide lunch for doctors and return home. But when my mother saw the students who arrive in the chaos, I decided to stay again and made Rotis (flat bread) for them,” she says.

That was the moment when the plane was criticized in the youth house and tore the first floor of the building. In the chaotic minutes that followed, hung confusion and heavy sadness.

“There was a lot of black smoke flowing from the building. People were running and trying to save their lives. We have searched for our mother since the morning, but we did not find any trace of it.”

Her father, Braallad Thakur, says that Sala was not alone – “my brother’s daughter was with her.” Both are missing.

They searched on the upper floor, where the kitchen was, but they found nothing.

“I went there twice, hoping to find something – anything. But there was nothing but water and debris,” he says.

Hindustan Times via Getty Images in the Air India crash site on June 12, 2025 in Ahmedabad, India. 265 people died and many others were wounded after the India 171 flight to London was shattered by Ahmed Abad moments after taking off. The plane crashed into the doctors residing in Ahmedabad, who suffered severe damage to the accident. (Photo by Raju Shinde/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)Hindustan times via Getti pictures

The plane crashed into the doctor’s hostel near the airport

The accident was not just destroyed a building – it was destroyed after a regular back on the campus.

“There was a loud noise. All doors and classroom windows were trembling. Everyone ran abroad to check what happened,” Talib said.

With the spread of the news and began to become increasingly clear that many students had been injured – maybe they were killed – panic was falsified on campus. Some began to run, others, who were not amazed at what they saw, immediately frozen, and suffocated them with screaming.

The others added, “One of the student stood there with tears in his eyes, unable to move, while others were severely harmed,” the others added.

By evening, stop the damaged corridors strongly. Back bags and half -eating meals lie in the tables in which students escaped. The air was still thick with smoke, sirens, and the weight of what just revealed.

Participated in additional reports from Kalbash Kumar Shafda in Ahmed Abad



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