Traveled from the UK to India to Fulfill Wife's Last Wish
Died in Air India Crash After Holding Funeral
A tragic story has emerged regarding a passenger who died in the recent Air India plane crash. This man, who lived in the United Kingdom, traveled to India to fulfill his wife's last wish of having her ashes scattered in her hometown, but lost his life in the disaster.
On June 14 (local time), India Today reported on the story of Manubhai Patoliya, a 36-year-old man who died in the Air India crash.
Manubhai Patoliya who died in an airplane crash while trying to fulfill his wife's last wish [Image source=India Today capture]
Patoliya's wife, Bharatiyen, passed away a week earlier. Before she died, she asked her husband to scatter her ashes in the river in Badiya, Amreli, Gujarat, India, her hometown.
Patoliya traveled to India to fulfill his wife's final wish. After holding a funeral in Badiya with his relatives, he planned to return home to his two daughters in the United Kingdom on June 12 by boarding Air India flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to London.
However, the plane Patoliya was on crashed into the B.J. Medical College building, located 3 kilometers from the airport, just one minute after takeoff at 1:39 p.m. on June 12. All 241 passengers, including Patoliya, lost their lives.
Patoliya's nephew, Krish Jagdish Patoliya, said, "He unfortunately had a ticket for the ill-fated flight," and added, "It is heartbreaking to lose both of them within a week."
According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) of India, there were a total of 242 people on board the crashed aircraft: 230 passengers, 2 pilots, and 10 crew members. The number of fatalities among those on board has been confirmed as 241, and an additional 33 people on the ground have also been confirmed dead so far.
Air India announced through its official social networking service (SNS) that the nationalities of the passengers on the flight were 169 Indians, 53 British nationals, 7 Portuguese nationals, and 1 Canadian. No South Koreans were among the passengers.
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