Long vigil for Air India crash families

A flickering candle casts a dim light on the photo of 12-year-old Akash Patni, a pensive look on the face of the Indian boy who died in a plane crash that has left his family inconsolable.

- STORY: PHILIPPE ALFROY / AFP

Suresh Patni, father of Air India flight Al171 crash victim Akash Patni, offers prayers to his son's portraits at his residence in Ahmedabad.

He is among dozens of people who died on June 12 when Air India flight 171 smashed into buildings in a neighbourhood of Ahmedabad, in the western state of Gujarat.

Since the disaster six months ago, Akash's parents and four siblings have gathered every day to pray in front of his picture, placed on a shelf in a corner of the small, dark space that serves as their living room.

"My son was sitting near the tea stall when a part of the plane fell on him... there was smoke and fire everywhere and nobody could go near the site," said the father, Suresh Patni, a 48-year-old tea vendor.

"The boy was burnt to ashes... We could not even take him to the hospital."

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had just taken off for London when, for reasons that an investigation has not yet clarified, fuel was cut to both of its engines.

Deprived of power, the aircraft crashed onto buildings at the end of the runway, engulfing in flames 241 of its 242 passengers and crew, and 19 residents of Ahmedabad.

One passenger survived.

"Everything happened before my own eyes," said Akash's mother Sita Patni, 45.