She used to cook lunch for the medical students and professors. While she prepared scrumptious meals -- hot chapattis (flatbread), curries and Gujarati delicacies -- her son delivered them on the college campus. But it all came to an end within seconds as an Air India plane crashed into the hostel mess of the BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon. Her son is now looking for the dead body of his mother and daughter - the duo was together at the college at the time of the plane crash.
An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, with 242 on board -- 230 passengers, 10 crew members and two pilots -- departed from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1:38 pm. The plane, headed to London's Gatwick Airport, crashed within 32 seconds of take-off. Only one British-Indian passenger, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, survived the crash.
She is Sharlaben Thakor. She used to prepare food at the BJ Medical College hostel canteen. At the time of the plane crash, Ms Thakor and her two-year-old granddaughter were at the hostel.
A day after the crash, as doctors at the Civil Hospital continue to collect DNA samples of the family members of people killed in the crash, while police search for more and more bodies buried under the debris, Sharlaben Thakor and little Adhya remain missing.
Sharlaben's son, Ravi, was at the Civil Hospital, delivering tiffin boxes when the crash happened. Speaking to NDTV, he said, "June 12 was like a regular workday for us. Like every day, I left at 1 pm to deliver food to the hospital staff and the hostel. Upon returning, we learnt that a plane had crashed into the mess. The place, where my mother was sitting, was charred."
Teary-eyed, Ravi said he has given his DNA sample and hopes to find his daughter's body.
"My mother went to the mess and never returned," said Payal Thakor. "My niece was also with her. We have been looking for them since yesterday, but they are untraceable," she added.
While Ravi's DNA sample will be used to identify his daughter, Payal's DNA sample will help locate their mother.
"We don't know anything about them. Where should we look for them?" she asked while crying inconsolably. "We are unable to find them; still, we have been asked to wait for 72 hours. We have been running pillar to post in search of them, but all in vain," she added.
