Air India Ahmedabad crash: Local hero returns gold, cash in selfless act of humanity

Ahmedabad: Rajesh Patel, 57, one of the first responders to the catastrophic Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, has emerged as a symbol of humanity and integrity amidst the tragedy. After assisting in the rescue of the injured and recovery of the deceased, Patel returned to the smouldering crash site—not to claim, but to give back.

Patel, a local construction businessman who lives just 300 metres from the crash site in Shahibaug, rushed to the scene the moment he heard the deafening explosion and saw flames piercing the sky. Without a second thought, he boarded an ambulance belonging to a private hospital run by a relative and headed to BJ Medical College, where the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had crashed shortly after take-off.

"At first, we couldn't get close because of the intense heat and flames. It took 15–20 minutes before we could begin pulling people out," Patel recalled. "We had no stretchers, so we used old sarees, bedsheets, even gunny sacks to carry the wounded and the dead to ambulances," he added.

Once the rescue operation had calmed, Patel turned his attention to the scattered remains of passengers’ belongings. From the charred remains of 10 to 15 handbags, he and other volunteers salvaged nearly 70 tolas of gold jewellery, several silver items, some passports, a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, ₹50,000 in cash and 20 US dollars. Every item was handed over to the police on-site.

“These items may mean little in material terms compared to the lives lost, but they are priceless to the families who’ve suffered,” Patel said.

This is not the first time Patel has shown such selflessness. A former photographer, he had volunteered at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital during the 2008 serial blasts, in which two of his close friends lost their lives.

Inspector D B Basiya of Meghaninagar police station confirmed that a special team is compiling a detailed inventory of every item recovered from the wreckage. “After proper verification, the belongings will be returned to the families through coordination with Air India,” he said.

Gujarat’s Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghavi, had earlier assured that all personal items found at the crash site would be returned to the rightful families. In a post shared on X, he included a video of a police officer handing over gold ornaments to the grieving family of crash victim Veenaben Agheda. “Each and every item found will be returned,” the Minister stated.
 

The crash claimed 241 lives onboard the London-bound flight, with just one miraculous survivor. A further 29 people on the ground, including five MBBS students, also lost their lives when the aircraft came down on the BJ Medical College campus.