Among the passengers of Air India Flight AI171 Javed Ali Syed, along with his wife Mariam, and their two kids Amani and Zayn who were residents of Kensington, London. Javed with his family had come to Malad East in Mumbai on June 6 to meet his ailing mother, who had recently gone into cardiac arrest. They had also timed their visit to celebrate Eid with their family in India, and were returning to the United Kingdom from Ahmedabad.
“He had come after a while and we were all so happy to celebrate Eid with him. They had done a few days of shopping, they had left to go back to London. I don’t even know why they did not take a flight from Mumbai; maybe they found a cheaper rate from Ahmedabad. But now with this accident, I just wish they had taken a flight from Mumbai,” said Imtiaz Ali Syed, Javed’s elder brother.
Adding to the already traumatic incident, the relatives do not know if their loved ones made it through the accident. “Now we have no clue about how he and his family are. We have received confusing and conflicting news from those who are in Ahmedabad. Some say that they are alive and some say they are not… all we want is the truth right now,” Imtiaz added.
The news of the passenger Ramesh Vishwashkumar surviving the accident has given hope to all the families who had their loved ones aboard the Dreamliner aircraft. “We heard that they found one (passenger) alive. We are now awaiting a call to inform us that my family is also found,” said Imtiaz, while on his way to Ahmedabad to get more answers.
