Burnt Bodies, Stench of Death: Eyewitnesses Recall Air India Crash as it Upended Ahmedabad’s Meghani Nagar

Dashrath Leuva, a local resident of the erstwhile nondescript Meghani Nagar area in Ahmedabad, was enjoying a quiet afternoon at home on Thursday, 12 June, when the sound of a massive blast rocked the neighbourhood. After a few minutes of stunned silence, Leuva could hear the rising volley of human voices—a mingled wave of wails and cries rising up and seeping through the walls.“The house seemed to shake. I and my family immediately stepped out. That's when we saw the huge ball of smoke outside. We rushed toward it," Leuva told The Quint.The sight that met Leuva's eyes upon reaching the source was one he couldn't have conjured in his worst nightmare.A commercial Air India airline had crashed into some residential buildings, including the BJ Medical College‘s hostel mess, apparently when many of the students and junior doctors were eating lunch."Buildings were on fire. There was the acrid smell of burning bodies. Soon, we saw them too. There were bodies everywhere,“ he recalled, just hours after."Some locals and I went closer to the fire where it was receding and pulled out about 20-25 charred bodies with our own bare hands by the time the ambulances started arriving. We took some of the bodies to the ambulance. After authorities arrived, we were asked to vacate the spot. The heat was unbearable,” Leuva narrated.Air India Plane Crash: Airline Confirms 241 Fatalities, 1 Passenger SurvivesThe crash upended the otherwise ordinary afternoon in Meghani Nagar, populated by residential houses, local shops, a few office blocks and the BJ Medical College hostel—known for its proximity to the airport. People were milling about their work at around 2 pm when a big blast brought those indoors out to the streets. So far, apart from the 241 passengers and crew aboard the flight, the total toll of 274 includes 33 on-ground deaths.“When I heard the noise, I came out of the office and saw clouds of smoke," Ahmedabad resident Amit Rajput, whose office is near the spot where the plane hit, told The Quint.Remembering the Many Lives of Vijay Rupani: CM, 'Source', Perhaps a Friend"Some friends and I were heading toward the spot when we saw three men and an old woman come running towards us. They were badly burnt. Then there was another loud explosion—and we stopped. Within a few moments, ambulances and police arrived. After that, bodies wrapped in plastic started coming our way.”Amit Rajput, Local The Ahmedabad to London's Gatwick-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1:38 and crashed into the nearby BJ Medical College hostel within minutes on 12 June, leaving a trail of death and destruction.Only one passenger seated on 11A of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner miraculously survived—and is currently receiving treatment. Among the passengers was former Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP leader Vijay Rupani.Recalling the moment of the crash, local office-goer Bhavna Moore said, "At first we thought it was a blast of some kind. I went out to check my godown, thinking the sound came from there. But when I went out, I heard people screaming and saw fire. Only later we learnt it was a plane crash".Another eyewitness, Ishan Brahmbhatt, who happened to be passing by when he was drawn by a "ball of fire in the sky", said:“Initially the situation was very scary. I saw four people coming out of the accident site with their skin peeling off. I will never forget the sight. The police and ambulance arrived soon enough, but before that, many people, including local shopkeepers and auto drivers, were helping to pull out the injured, and taking them to hospitals in autos, scooters, and bikes.”Ishan BrahmbhattOld, Unrelated Images Falsely Linked To Air India Plane Crash in AhmedabadBy the time my fellow reporter and I reached the spot, the police had cordoned off about 4-5 kilometers of road ahead of the accident site. Only rescue vehicles and police convoys could move ahead. We headed towards the accident site on foot. By the time we had reached, the fire brigade had managed to bring the flames under control, and it along with the police, paramilitary forces and army personnel remained engaged in rescue work through the night.Police, fire brigade, and ambulance vehicles were constantly coming and going on the way. A massive crowd had already started gathering, consisting of media persons, rescue and health workers, police, social groups like the RSS, kin of the people missing or injured, and hundreds of curious onlookers. A feeling of bedlam hung heavy as the plumes of smoke, visible from about 200-300 meters away. Due to the accident, everything around was engulfed in fire. Some of the bodies we witnessed being pulled out were burnt so badly that it was difficult to even identify them. A long night of DNA analysis and identification lay ahead of the authorities.Naresh Soni, Assistant Professor at the National Forensic Science University, who was at the scene on Thursday, told The Quint, "This is a very big accident. The number of casualties is huge—and the nature of the crash makes it difficult to identify the dead.""At present, all the bodies have been sent to the post-mortem room of the (Ahmedabad) Civil Hospital. The DNA of the deceased and their relatives is being tested there. As soon as the DNA test is completed, the bodies will be handed over to the relatives. DNA samples are being collected by the Forensic Science Laboratory."Naresh Soni, Assistant Professor, National Forensic Science UniversitySoni further added, "There is a high chance of DNA contamination due to heat, so as many DNA samples as possible are being collected immediately."At the Civil Hospital where the injured were being treated and the bodies of the dead were being sent for post-mortem, families of the deceased were piling up, seeking their loved one—their remains—and many answers. A grieving daughter, Arati Parmar, was looking for her the remains of her parents, Hansaben and Bhogilal Parmar, who were visiting their son in London. "My sister-in-law is pregnant. They were going to help her and my brother with the delivery and the baby. This would have been their first trip to London," she said with tearstruck eyes.Meet Soni, who lost his 67-year-old uncle Chaintanya Parikh, was at a loss of words. "We pray to God that the injured recover soon and the souls of the dead rest in peace," was all he could manage to say.Another passenger's aunt, Neenaben, was inconsolable. She had just seen off her nephew Akash Purohit at the airport a few hours ago and couldn't believe he was gone."We rushed to the hospital after seeing the news on TV. It was just a few moments after he boarded. Akash was just 27 years old."Neenaben, kin of deceasedThe families had still been waiting to find the remains of their loved ones at the time The Quint spoke with them. Meanwhile, the death of former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was confirmed by Union Minister CR Patil. He said, “Vijay Rupani was on board the flight. His death is a big blow to the BJP.”Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani tweeted, “The news of the death of former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in a plane crash near Ahmedabad airport is extremely sad. I knew him personally for years, he was a very nice person. Deeply saddened by his untimely demise. May Lord Dwarkadheesh give him peace. Om Shanti.” In the past 48 hours, the death toll has expectedly gone up. Back in Meghani Nagar, smoke lingers along with a pall of gloom, enveloping the rescue work in a miasma of heat and death.(Deval Jadav and Sagar Patel are independent journalists from Ahmedabad and co-founders of Svaman Media.)

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'Their Skin Was Peeling Off…': How Air India Crash Upended Meghani Nagar

"There was the acrid smell of burning bodies. Soon, we saw them too," a local resident told The Quint.

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