Remains of the Air India 171 plane that crashed moments after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport on June 12, 2025.
Credit: PTI Photo
Although none but just one survived the Air India crash on June 12 in Ahmedabad, the incident witnessed quick emergency response not just from the authorities, but also from locals present at the site.
A 56-year-old businessman Raju Patel with his team was reportedly one of the first ones to come forward to help in the crisis. Patel said that he and his fellow mates had to wait for the emergency services to arrive as the intensity of the flames was too high for them to even get close to the wreckage.
“For the first 15 to 20 minutes, we could barely get close. The fire was too intense,” Times of India quoted Patel as saying.
He also said that once the fire services arrived, he and his team jumped in to help using sarees and bedsheets to carry the injured. “But once the first fire brigade and 108 ambulances arrived, we jumped in to help. We did what we could,” he added.
They also helped in collecting the burnt luggage, from which they found 70 tolas of gold jewellery, Rs 80,000 in cash, passports and other stuffs, which were all reportedly handed over to the police.
Meanwhile, Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India plane crash, has been discharged from the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital following his recovery, and he later attended the cremation of his deceased brother who was flying with him on the same aircraft.
Vishwas, a 40-year-old British businessman from Leicester, was discharged on Tuesday evening. The mortal remains of his brother Ajay were handed over to the family in the early hours of Wednesday after a DNA test confirmed his identity.
At least 190 victims of the plane crash have so far been identified through DNA tests and 159 bodies, including of 32 foreign nationals, handed over to their families, officials said on Wednesday.