Tea-seller's son among victims, ground toll rises

He was neither on the ill-fated flight nor in the hostel building that the London-bound Air India jet rammed into on Thursday afternoon in Ahmedabad.

- Maulik Pathak and Ateeq Shaikh

AHMEDABAD: But on Friday, 15-year-old Akash Patni, who was sleeping under a tree near his family's tea stall close to the BJ Medical College hostel, was confirmed to have been killed by the same tragedy that claimed scores of other lives.

A day after the worst air crash in the country in three decades, forensic investigators combed through mangled pieces of metal and authorities struggled to confirm the identities of the masses of charred bodies heaped up inside the mortuary.

"The death toll based on the bodies recovered so far would be between 265 and 270," said Kanan Desai, deputy commissioner of police, Ahmedabad (zone 4).

The state government said in a statement that the bodies of eight individuals — four medical students from BJ Medical College, two of their family members, and two other people — were identified and handed over to their respective families. The statement said the deceased were from "nearby residential areas" but didn't identify anyone.

"Four doctors and two of their family members have died in the crash. Around six to seven staff members from the hostel mess are also missing," said Dr Meenakshi Parikh, dean of BJ Medical College.

An official said two of these mess workers were also dead. Separately, officials said three people were missing from the slums that ring the crash site, but refused to give any more details.

"At the time of the crash, my mother Sarla and daughter Aadya were in the mess. It has been 24 hours but I have not got any clue about what has happened to them," said Ravi Thakor, who worked in the BJ Medical College dining hall.