Air India crash: Dh2.5m aid for families

Dr Vayalil’s VPS Health team travels to Ahmedabad to present cheques

- BY ASHWANI KUMAR

As BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad, India, reopened yesterday following its closure after Air India Flight 171 crashed into the campus on June 12, the atmosphere was heavy with grief.

As many as four budding medical students and family members of doctors residing on campus perished when the London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into the hostel and mess blocks before erupting into flames.

UAE-based health care entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr Shamsheer Vayalil had pledged Dh2.5 million to support the bereaved families.

Representatives from VPS Health travelled from Abu Dhabi to deliver the cheques, which were distributed in the office of Dr Minakshi Parikh, Dean of BJ Medical College, in the presence of Dr Rakesh S. Joshi, Superintendent of the Hospital, and the Junior Doctors Association.

Dh426,000 each for families of four students