Ahmedabad Plane Crash: City In Shock; Families Shattered

Forty-year-old Papu Patni, an auto driver, heard a loud sound as he finished his bath on Thursday and was heading out for work. As he looked out from outside his house, there were plumes of smoke rising from the smouldering debris of an Air India aircraft, which crashed over three miles away from his house.

바카라�There was restricted movement to the site. That day I lost all work as I couldn't go to the airport to pick and drop passengers to several places in the city,바카라� he said.

바카라�The number of foreign travellers seems to have come down after the incident. I used to come to the airport by 2 pm, now I come around 5 pm. My earnings have dropped significantly,바카라� he said, hoping to see the number of passengers come to normal levels after a few days.

바카라�Nobody knows how the crash occurred, even our former Chief Minister of Gujrat had a tragic death in the incident,바카라� he said.

"I have never heard of anything like this before": Ahmedabad Residents In Shock After Plane Crash

For people in Gujarat, the incident was shocking, and most expressed disbelief over the magnitude of loss in terms of civilian deaths.

Varun Deep, 40, couldn바카라�t for once drive away the thoughts of the Thursday's air crash in Ahmedabad, even as he was hundreds of kilometres away in the Patiala area of Punjab, where he had gone on Tuesday to meet his in-laws.

The crash had been gory and depressing for him as it left only one survivor among 242 people who were on board the ill-fated Air India passenger flight, which was on its way to London on Thursday. He was away from his hometown in Ahmadabad, but for the last three days, his thoughts had remained occupied with the crash.

바카라�It is so devastating, so depressing and I have never heard of anything like this before,바카라� said Varun.

All through his journey back from Chandigarh to Ahmedabad, he has been flipping through videos and news reports that kept on beaming the horror that unfolded in a matter of a few seconds in a crowded neighbourhood here.

His phone remains full of photos and videos of the air crash that displayed the horror of charred bodies amid the debris of the air crash, water being sprinkled to douse the flames and crestfallen families rattled by the crash.

바카라�Such a crash, which caused the loss of life of this magnitude, is unheard of. It is the first such incident that I am aware of that has happened in Gujarat. To my memory, it is the biggest tragedy that has unfolded in terms of loss of life as the plane journey became the last one for people,바카라� said Varun. 바카라�It is searing and devastating, and there are no words to express the pain," he added.

Varun, who is in the event management business, said that Gujarat remains a hub for manufacturing industry and is frequented by foreign travellers and urged the authorities to clear the air on the security-related issues for those travelling in private flights. 바카라�It is tragic, it is horrible. I can바카라�t stand the sight of unrecognisable bodies all charred like metal objects,바카라� he said.

Rahil, 32, has been on a constant call with his cousins after the incident became known, before travelling down to Ahmedabad on a vacation. 바카라�At the back of our mind, there are concerns of safety when you are flying. But what caused the loss? It is too early to assess. It is, however, the responsibility of the authorities to ensure the safety of passengers," said Rahil, adding that the 바카라�safety of passengers should be ensured at all costs.바카라�

For Gujaratis, the incident has been nothing short of a shock as the plane crashed in the middle of a residential area, sending up plumes of smoke and even leaving some people at a local medical college dead.

Although the incident disrupted flight services initially, the operations have become normal at the Ahmedabad airport, which is surrounded by crowded neighbourhoods in the immediate vicinity, which come into view as soon as the flights land at the airport.