Last year, the afternoon of June 12 brought utter destruction to BJ Medical College hostel when flight AI 171 carrying 242 passengers crashed, killing all but one passenger and several others on the ground. Smoke billowed from the site and hundreds descended for rescue and relief.A year later, the site in Meghaninagar became a memorial of sorts when hundreds — from Ahmedabad and elsewhere — arrived with photographs of their loved ones who died in the crash, and paid homage to the departed souls with flowers, prayers, and candles.The city marked the first anniversary of the crash with the hope that relatives would get closure through the findings of the crash report. At BJ Medical College, the healthcare fraternity and bereaved kin came together to pay tribute to four medical students and all 260 who lost their lives in the crash. Another prayer meet was organised at a private hotel on Ashram Road where families gathered to discuss the course of action.Among those present were the family members of Rozar Christian and his wife, Rachana. The relatives offered wreaths for the couple. Rozar and Rachana had been working as live-in caretakers in the UK, having migrated from New Zealand. A priest read a passage from the Bible and prayed for them.Earlier in the day, a religious group performed a ritual near the site for the departed souls.Praful Patel, the father of another crash victim, Dirdh, had come with his wife and their other son. Dirdh was studying in the UK.“It all still feels unreal. There has not been a single day when we have not missed Dirdh’s presence in our lives,” Patel said. He, along with other relatives, offered floral tribute at the site.Among the most poignant sights was a full-size cutout of Akash Patni and banners commemorating Jivi Kabrawala, another local resident who lost her life on the ground.On Friday night, a ‘Bhajan Sandhya’ was organised by the people living in the neighbourhoods around the site.The BJ Medical College’s prayer meeting was attended by British high commissioner Lindi Cameron, Ahmedabad mayor Hitesh Barot, MLA Darshana Vaghela, and additional chief secretary (health) Rajeev Topno.The gathering prayed for the four deceased medical students: Aryan Rajput, Jayprakash Chaudhary, Manav Bhadoo, and Rakesh Diyora.Dr Minakshi Parikh, BJ Medical College dean, said that the institution had decided to keep the memories of the deceased alive through a tree-plantation drive at key locations affected by the tragedy, including the college, the postmortem room, and the hostel.“The 260 trees will be taken care of by the staff. The students and staff also collected over 300 units of blood in honour of the departed souls,” she said.
