Air India plane crash: Locals recover 70 tolas gold, passports, Gita from AI171 debris

As flames engulfed the wreckage of Air India flight AI171 near BJ Medical College on June 12, 56-year-old Raju Patel and his crew stepped into the chaos, pulling out victims, and later, scorched belongings that told stories of lives lost too soon.

From the debris, as per TOI, they retrieved 70 tolas of gold jewellery (over 800 grams), Rs 80,000 in cash, passports, and a copy of the Bhagavad Git, all handed over to police.

“For the first 15 to 20 minutes, we could barely get close. The fire was too intense,” said Patel, a construction businessman who reached the site within five minutes of the crash. “But once the first fire brigade and 108 ambulances arrived, we jumped in to help.”


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With no stretchers around, Patel’s team used sarees and bedsheets to carry the injured. They stayed on-site until 9 pm, first helping with rescue and then recovering personal belongings scattered across the charred field.

Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi said all items recovered from the site are being documented and will be returned to the next of kin.

“I’m just grateful we could do something,” TOI quoted Patel as saying, who was recalling his experience during the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bombings. “I was just 100 m from the civil hospital when a bomb went off. But the destruction here... the flames... I will never forget this.”

(With inputs from TOI)