Two sisters who made a surprise trip from London to visit their grandmother for her birthday are among the victims of the Air India tragedy.
Dhir and Heer Baxi, both in their 20s, travelled from the UK capital to Ahmedabad for the visit and were returning to Gatwick when their plane crashed just 60 seconds after takeoff.
Their heartbroken loved ones told today how they had lost ‘everyone’ after the ‘young talents’ were killed in the disaster.
Dhir was a designer for a degree in fashion design while Heer worked as a project leader in the investment and renewable energy sector. She had previously worked in Singapore, where the sisters are believed to have spent their childhood.
The Air India plane carrying 242 passengers crashed just moments after take-off from Ahmedabad Airport in the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner careened back down to earth in the densely populated Meghani area of the city just minutes after leaving the runway around 1.40pm local time (8.10am BST).
Terrifying CCTV footage shows the plane appear to lose control before it starts rapidly descending with a high nose angle and landing gear deployed. It plunges into the ground and explodes in a huge fireball, as a massive plume of black smoke is seen billowing out from crash site.
Aviation experts say that the aircraft may have suddenly lost power ‘at the most critical phase of flight’ after takeoff.
Today, the Baxis’ elder brother, Ishan, told The Telegraph: ‘I can’t express what my complete family is going through – shell shocked, not coming to terms is what I can say right now
‘Both had a natural aura of helping and always cared about family values. They both had aspirations to be successful enough to roam around the world, tension-free. Along with their parents, they both had a proclivity towards modernisation without changing traditional values.
‘Both my sisters know what is right and what is wrong, thus whatever work they carried out, in academics or fashion, they always got success with no conflicts amongst peers or seniors.’
Last night, a comment was added to Heer’s last Instagram post from November 2024 that said: ‘RIP young talent.’
Harrods brand ambassador Mariam Ali Syed, 35, her husband Javed – a manager at the Best Western Kensington Olympia Hotel – and their children, Zayn, five, and Amani, four, have also been named as passengers on the stricken flight.
Zayn and Amani are believed to be the youngest named victims of the crash so far.
Mrs Ali Syed’s sister-in-law, Yasmine Hassan, 45, broke down while confirming the children’s names, and pleaded with officials to offer more support to the families of the 53 British citizens onboard the flight.
Newly engaged couple Hardik Avaiya, 28, and Vibhooti Patel, 27, and father-of-two Dr Prateek Joshi, a radiologist at the Royal Derby Hospital, were also among the victims.
Mr Avaiya and Ms Patel became engaged in April after meeting while working for Amazon in Leicester.
They had travelled to India to meet their respective families ahead of their wedding when they were caught up in the disaster.
Friend Dhaval Patel, who worked at Amazon with the couple, was on his way to Gatwick Airport to collect them when news of the tragedy broke.
He said he had spoken to Mr Avaiya just as they were about to take off but he told him he had to end the call as they were on the runway.
Minutes later, news of the crash started to filter through and, after checking the plane number, Mr Patel said he realised his friends were on board.
Mr Avaiya was a volunteer at his local temple. Mr Patel said: ‘He was a great guy, a volunteer, so kind and helpful. He was like my brother. It’s just very sad. Their families are devastated.’
He said he had spoken to Mr Avaiya just as they were about to take off but he told him he had to end the call as they were on the runway.
Minutes later, news of the crash started to filter through and, after checking the plane number, Mr Patel said he realised his friends were on board.
The Shree Hanuman Temple said in a statement: ‘Absolutely devastated to hear the loss of our dedicated volunteer Hardik Avaiya and his wife Vibhooti who were on Air India flight which crashed in India today.
‘Our deepest sympathies and condolences to their families and to all the families who have lost loved ones or have been affected by the events of today.’
In a cruel twist and a sign of how the disaster has impacted families from Leicester. Mr Patel’s neighbour was also killed when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after take off.
Manish Babu, 46, who has a daughter, 12, and son, 10, had spent the last few months in India caring for his father after he suffered a stroke.
When his father passed away last month, his brother returned while Mr Babu remained behind waiting for his mother’s visa to be sorted so she could join her sons in Britain after her husband’s death.
His friend Pravin Chagan said when he found out it would be delayed, he decided to return and selected the flight that was the ‘best price’.
Mr Babu had lived and worked in Leicester for 15 years and was well known in the community, Mr Chagan said.
He was speaking from the family home in the Belgrave area of Leicester on Tuesday, where friends and family members had gathered to pay their respects.
‘The plan was they would return to collect his mother when her visa was sorted,’ he said.
‘He was a very hardworking person, very calm and kind.’
Mr Chagan said Mr Babu’s wife Manisha had travelled to Heathrow with their children to try to fly to India but their flight was cancelled on Tuesday afternoon.
Air India confirmed 241 of the 242 people on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were killed on Thursday, in one of the deadliest plane crashes in terms of the number of British nationals killed.
The airline said the plane was carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian.
Mr Babu and Hardik Avaiya and Vibhooti Patel lived just minutes from the home of Ajay Kumar Ramesh, 45, who was also killed. His brother, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, miraculously survived.
Dr Prateek Joshi, a radiologist at the Royal Derby Hospital, was on the Air India flight with his family, Derby Hindu Temple said.
Dr Joshi had moved to Derby from India in 2021, a colleague who worked closely with him said.
Dr Rajeev Singh said: ‘He often entertained colleagues with stories about his passions outside of work, including his newly discovered love of fish and chips and enthusiasm for walking in the Peak District.
‘He touched the lives of so many people, both through his clinical work and as a colleague and friend to many.
‘It is hard to accept that a man with such a passion for life, and his beautiful young family, have been taken in this way.’
All but one person aboard Air India Flight 171 are feared to have died in the tragedy.
Also among them were Akeel Nanawaba, Hannaa Vorajee and their daughter Sarah, 4, Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, Raxa Modha, her grandson Rudra and her daughter-in-law Yasha Kamdar and Ajaykumar Ramesh, the brother of the tragedy’s only survivor.
The heartbroken father of Air India victim Yasha Modha, 32, made a desperate plea to see her one more time as he struggled to come to terms with the loss.
Manish Kamdar, 62, said on Friday: ‘I spoke to her twice before take-off and she seemed excited to go to London and she wished me well. I cannot believe Yasha is no more. Let me see her once.’
He was at his home near the airport 15 minutes after take-off when he heard that the plane had crashed in a massive fireball a short distance from the runway.
Yashar’s husband Kishan was not on the flight as he had work commitments, a family friend revealed.
Jatin Patel, of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, where Raxa lived after moving to the UK almost 40 years ago, said the businessman, who deals in batteries, was planning to join them in the UK a few days later.
Many family members had travelled out to India to be with Raxa’s husband, Kishor, who passed away a few weeks ago.
Yasha and her son were among those flying to the UK to take part in a prayer ceremony to mark the death at Highfield Community Centre in Wellingborough on June 22.
Mr Patel, 60, said: ‘Kishan was going to come later on because he had business out there. I spoke to [his older brother] Chirage yesterday and his sister was there too.
‘They were very sad. They were crying everywhere.
‘He told me Kishan was still at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital because the bodies haven’t been found.’
Family patriarch Kishor had travelled to the country of his birth in a last-ditch attempt to beat cancer late last year, Mr Patel added.
He said: ‘Kishor got a problem with cancer about a year-and-a-half ago and was so many times going and coming back. He last went in November or December.
‘In this country, the doctors said they couldn’t do anything, so he went to the local hospital in Bombay. He died on April 26 and that’s why Kishan’s wife and child were coming here – for the prayer ceremony.’
The Modhas are a ‘lovely’ family, he added, saying: ‘Raxa was a very friendly woman, a very nice woman and wife.
‘She loved her children and grandchild. Family was very important to her.
‘Kishan is a good guy. He’s been living in India for three or four years and is the youngest [of three siblings]. I’ve known him since he was a teenager.
‘He’s a good one, kindly, a totally friendly and respectable person. I was crying myself when I heard what had happened.’
Yasha grew up in Nagpur and travelled to Germany for her post-graduate studies in mathematics.
Her father has criticised what he called a a lack of information since the tragedy, saying: ‘We were not informed by anyone of the deaths and we have not received any support from the airport facilities.
‘My son-in-law is waiting outside Ahmedabad Civil Hospital and is clueless about their status. But he is not allowed inside.
‘People there are being told that they will be allowed to enter after the [Gujarat] chief minister visits the hospital.’
Kishor was a successful businessman who was born in Gujarat State before moving to the UK in 1989 and setting up Pooja Caterers which specialises in ‘pure vegetarian and vegan Indian cuisine’ according to the firm’s website.
An ‘angel’ NHS nurse was also named today as one of the passengers killed in the tragedy.
Renjitha Gopakumaran was returning to the UK after a holiday to see family in her home country when the ill-fated Boeing 787-8 crashed.
The nurse and mother was working at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, Hants, and is thought to have been in the UK for a year.
Her colleagues at the NHS hospital today said she was a ‘beautiful lady’ who showed her patients and co-workers ‘so much love and care’.
Ms Gopakumaran, said to be in her 40s, ‘had the biggest heart and brightest smile’, one colleague said – while others said it was ‘tragic’ to hear of her passing.
Ms Gopakumaran has two children in India and she had been in the UK completing her degree as part of a five
The sole survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was seated in 11A, is also British and told the Hindustan Times he had lived in London for 20 years.
Vishwash’s brother Ajaykumar accompanied him on the flight and was sat on the other side of the aisle in seat 11J, but he sadly perished in the fireball explosion.
Akeel Nanawaba, 36, his wife Hannaa Vorajee, 30, and their daughter Sarah, four, were flying home from a five-day family celebration when the Dreamliner crashed.
The successful young couple ran a global recruitment agency with offices in Ahmedabad and Gloucester.
Their shocked business partner Shoyeb Khan Nagori told : ‘I had dinner with them last night. They were a lovely family and Akeel and his wife were extremely successful people.’
Mr Nagori said he was too upset to find the words to describe their daughter Sarah who had spent time with her grandfather during the brief visit.
He said: ‘They were here to celebrate a family festival and to spend some time with Akeel’s father.
‘Akeel was a really good man, I’m in shock, we were all having dinner together the night before.’
Mr Nagori was with hundreds of other relatives of crash victims waiting for updates at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad.
He founded recruitment company Iceberg Outsourcing Services with Mr Nanbawa, who was the managing director.
Hannaa, a trained midwife, was head of finance with a sister company called Rec2go Ltd, also based in Gloucester.
Recently widowed Raxa Modha, 55, her grandson two-year-old Rudra, and her daughter-in-law Yasha Kamdar are all believed to have been onboard the ill-fated airliner.
Mrs Modha had been in India for some time fulfilling the dying wish of her ill husband Kishor who had wanted to live out his last days in his homeland.
Following his recent passing, the mother-of-three was returning with her family to their home in Northamptonshire when disaster struck.
In a twist of fate, Kishan Modha – the toddler’s father and Raxa’s son – had also been in India but was not on the flight as he was due to catch another tomorrow.
Speaking to , a family friend said: ‘It’s incredibly sad, the whole family is already grieving Kishor’s death.
‘Kishan fortunately was getting on another flight, but we don’t know what has happened to the others.’
Neighbours at the family’s detached home in Wellingborough said Mrs Modha is a ‘lovely lady’.
They said she had been in India for an extended period to support her husband who was battling an illness.
The respected businessman, who launched a successful catering business after settling in the UK in 1989, died on April 26. The family were due to hold a service in his memory later this month.
In a memorial for him, the family said he was a ‘cherished husband’ to Raxa and ‘proud grandfather to Rudra, who brought him immense joy’.
The mayor for Wellingborough, Raj Mishra offered his condolences to the family on a post on Facebook adding it was devastating for the local community.
‘I extend my deepest condolences to their families, friends, and all those affected by this heartbreaking event,’ he added.
British celebrity wellness guru Jamie Meek and his husband are also believed to have perished after they posted a haunting video of themselves at the airport waiting to board the Air India flight.
Mr Meek, 45, and husband Fiongal Greenlaw, 39, who live in London, run a wellness and healthy lifestyle company called the Wellness Foundry, and had been in India on holiday.
In a chilling final social media video posted from Ahmedabad airport as they waited to board their doomed flight the couple were dressed in flowery shirts looking happy at the end of their break.
In the clip, Fiongal says: ‘We are at the airport just boarding. Goodbye India. Ten-hour flight back to England. What was your biggest takeaway Jamie?
Jamie replies: ‘I don’t know,’ with his partner laughing and responding: ‘Thanks for your contribution.’
Fiongal than jokes that his biggest takeaway was ‘don’t lose your patience with your partner’ to which Jamie responds with a smile: ‘You snapped at me at the airport for having chai.’
As other passengers mill in the background, Fiongal laughs at the camera and reveals that he is going back to Britain ‘happily, happily calm.’
Mr Meek’s brother, Nick Meek, told : ‘We were expecting him home tonight. He should have landed at 6.30pm and then driven up for about 11pm to get his dog who is staying with our Mum.
‘She is not in a good way. It is all very raw for her at the moment. It’s a lot to take in and we only heard this news a couple of hours ago.
‘Jamie and his husband Fin had been out there for 10 days as a couple to do a wellness retreat.
‘They both worked in holistics and had their own business.’
The caretaker from Birmingham said it was not the first time his brother had been to India but it was the first time they had gone as a couple.
He said that his brother and Fin had married in 2022 and lived in Ramsgate, Kent.
In other videos posted by the couple, they showed the stunning hotel they were staying in while in Ahmedabad having completed a seven-hour car journey.
The company specialises in tarot and psychic readings, reiki and other alternative spiritual therapies.
British father Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, was filmed walking out from the rubble after some how miraculously surviving the catastrophic crash.
Fiongal lies on a large bed as he speaks to the camera, showing off a giant swing in their room and describes the hotel as ‘beautiful.
He beams: ‘Feeling very, very happy.’
The couple captured the happy time they had in India in a series of social media posts.
This included getting henna tattoos, shopping for fine fabrics and other gifts and driving through chaotic traffic in a tuk-tuk.
They arrived in Ahmedabad just a day before flying back with Fiongal posting in a video: ‘So, it’s our last night in India and we’ve had a magical experience. Some mind-blowing things have happened.
‘We are going to put all this together and create a vlog. It’s my first ever vlog about the whole trip and we want to share it.’
Jamie revealed what a memorable trip they had both had: ‘We have been on quite a journey and then spending our last night here in this beautiful hotel, it’s really been great way to round off the trip.’
According to its website, The Wellness Foundry was founded by Fiongal in 2018 after he had a ‘spiritual awakening’ following a mysterious illness.
The website adds: ‘Seeking healing beyond conventional methods, Fiongal delved into alternative practices that resonated deeply within his soul.’
Speaking to local media from the safety of a hospital bed, the passenger who was in seat 11A said: ‘Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.’
‘When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran.
‘There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.’
Astonishing footage showed the passenger walking away from the scene with some visible injuries.
Vishwash, who was returning home to London after visiting family, sustained injuries to his chest, eyes and feet, he told the Hindustan Times.
The regional police chief said ‘some locals would have also died’, given that the plane smashed down into offices and accommodation for doctors close to a hospital.
So far, rescue teams supported by the military have recovered 204 bodies, with casualties from the plane and the area surrounding the crash.
The passengers included 159 Indian nationals, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian. Eleven of those on board were children, including two newborns.
A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) said: ‘Our thoughts are with all those affected by the tragic plane crash in India – this is an unfolding situation, and it will undoubtedly be causing a huge amount of worry and concern.
‘FCDO staff are working urgently with local authorities in India and the UK to ensure families and friends are supported in the coming days, whether in the UK or in India.’