The tragic India plane crash on Thursday claimed the lives of a doctor couple and their three young children, just moments after they posed for a final selfie onboard the ill-fated Air India flight bound for London.
Dr Komi Vyas and her husband, Dr Prateek Joshi, were travelling with their twin sons, Nakul and Pradyut, aged five, and their eight-year-old daughter, Miraya.
According to DailyMailUK, they were relocating to the United Kingdom, where Dr. Joshi had already been based, after Dr Vyas resigned from her medical job in Udaipur to join him.
Their journey, intended to mark “new beginnings”, ended in catastrophe when Air India Flight 171 crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport in the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat around 1.40pm local time (8.10am BST) on Wednesday.
Aboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were 242 passengers, including 53 Britons. Authorities fear that at least 260 people, including some on the ground, may have died in the crash.
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The aircraft came down in the densely populated Meghani area of Ahmedabad, minutes after departure. Terrifying CCTV footage captured the plane accelerating along the runway before lifting off, then abruptly descending at a steep angle before crashing in a fiery explosion. Thick black smoke rose from the wreckage site as emergency crews responded.
The final photo of the family, taken by Dr Joshi onboard the flight, shows the parents seated side by side and smiling, with their children across the aisle beaming at the camera. The image has since gone viral, symbolising the heartbreaking human toll of the tragedy.
Dr Joshi’s cousin, Nayan, said: “They left for Ahmedabad yesterday to take the flight to London. Prateek had come here just two days ago to take his wife and children with him.”
Dr Vyas’ brother, Prabuddha, said she had married Dr Prateek Joshi ten years ago.
Aviation experts have speculated that a sudden loss of power at a critical moment may have caused the aircraft to fail shortly after takeoff. The crash remains under investigation.
Flight 171 had been en route to Gatwick Airport in London.
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