Plane crash: Teen boy sleeping near family's tea stall among those killed; kin line up for DNA tests

Ahmedabad: Fourteen-year-old Akash Patni was sleeping under a tree near his family's tea stall close to the BJ Medical College hostel building in Ahmedabad's Meghaninagar area when a cruel twist of fate pulled him in as a statistic in one of aviation's worst disasters.

As Air India's Ahmedabad-London flight turned into a massive fireball some time after taking off from the international airport here at 1:39pm on Thursday, killing all but of the 242 persons on board, among those who lost their lives on the ground was Akash.

"Akash was sleeping under a tree near the tea stall, which is adjacent to the hostel building into which the aircraft crashed. His mother Sitaben was preparing tea at the time. First, a large metal piece fell on Akash's head and then he was engulfed in flames," recounted his aunt Chandaben, who along with other kin stood outside the civil hospital's post mortem room.

"Sitaben sustained severe burns during an unsuccessful attempt to save Akash. She is now hospitalised. Akash's body was charred beyond recognition and his father has given samples for DNA tests," the aunt said.

At the mortuary of the civil hospital, Suresh Mistry from Anand town too submitted his DNA sample as part of the process of identifying the body of his 21-year-old daughter Krina Mistry.

"Krina had received a work permit visa for London a year back. She recently came back to Anand and met with an accident. After her dental surgery, she was going back to London on the ill-fated flight," said Suresh, who is staying at a hotel while he waits for the DNA test results.

"She even called us from the aircraft saying everything was fine and that we could go back to Anand. When we reached home, we found out about the plane crash. I still cannot believe my beloved Krina is no more," he said tearfully.