How The Boy Who Shot First Viral Video of Air India Crash Was Harassed by Media

"He wanted to show the video to his friends back home in his village," Aryan's neighbour, Sunita told The Quint.

Aryan Asari had recorded the first viral video of the Air India plane crash.

(Photo: The Quint)

Seventeen-year-old Aryan Asari was standing on the terrace of his building in Laxminagar neighbourhood of Ahmedabad when he recorded a video of the Air India Dreamliner 787-8.

Out of curiosity, Asari shot the video with the intention of showing the airplane flying at such close proximity, to his friends back home in his village, Aravalli. Around 20 seconds of the video, it could be seen that the plane crashed and was engulfed in massive flames.

His video was the first one to come out of the tragic incident and went viral on social media. But shortly after, Asari was hounded by the media consecutively for two days.

What Asari saw traumatised him. For the next two days, the media harassed him so much, that his father, a retired army man had to ask for police protection.

“I came here on June 12. The plane was passing very close, so I thought of shooting a video to show to my friends. The plane went downwards, and I thought it was going to land as the airport was nearby. But when it went down, flames started shooting up, and I saw that it had exploded. I was scared. I showed the video to my sister. I also told my father about it”, the teenager said, as per ANI.

Later, another video that went viral was of him being taken away by the police. There were claims that he was being detained or arrested but the police clarified that he was taken to record his statement to the police station.

And now, Asari has been sent back to his native Aravalli village.

Sunita, Asari's neighbour, speaking to The Quint said:

The boy did not record the video thinking this will become a problem. It was only going away from a close distance so he shot the video to show this friends and family back home. To show a plane from such a close proximity. Seconds later, the plane crashed. For two days, a lot of media persons came here. They questioned him a lot and even on 14 June, a lot of reporters were here till around 6 PM.

Sunita, Aryan's neighbour to The Quint

She added that the police took Asari and the houseowner for questioning.

The Ahmedabad Crime Branch had also issued a statement, news agency PTI reported.

"He came with his father to give a statement as a witness. He was then sent away with his father. No arrests or detentions have been made," said the police said.