The harrowing tales behind doomed Air India flight 171 saw happiness wiped out in an instant – 241 of the 242 people on board tragically died
A world of happiness and hope wiped out in an instant. This final smiling selfie of two doctors and their three sweet children, was taken just moments before they all died on doomed flight 171.
There were among the 242 passengers and crew on board, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 Brits, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian. Harrowing stories of the dead continued to emerge on Friday, including the two loving sisters returning from a ‘surprise trip’ to celebrate their gran’s birthday and a widower who had fulfilled his wife’s final wishes by scattering her ashes leaving their two young children orphaned.
Dr Prateek Joshi, a consultant radiologist at the Royal Derby hospital, was said to be “ecstatic” he was bringing his wife Komi Vyas and their children to live with him back in the UK. They both looked over the moon to be starting a “new chapter” after the mum had quit her job to join him in the UK full time.
The couple, married for ten years, travelled with their twin boys aged five, Nakul and Pradyut and their eight year old daughter Miraya. A former colleague of Dr Joshi, said the dad had been “really ecstatic” to bring his family to live with him in the UK.
Mario Dimitrio Donadio, a locum radiologist, told the BBC he felt a “darkness and heavy sensation” in his heart when he discovered the news. He described his former colleague and flatmate as a “very good professional” and said he was “very happy” when they went out for a meal with other radiologists in May.
Dr Donadio added Dr Joshi was “really ecstatic” when he told him a few days ago that he was planning on bringing his family in India to live with him in the UK to start a “new chapter in life”. “He was always very jolly, he was a sunny character, always bright and sparkling,” Dr Donadio said. “The world is at loss, to lose people like him.”
The highly respected radiologist has been described as a “wonderful man” who entertained colleagues with stories about “his newly discovered love of fish and chips”. Colleagues paid tribute to him as “a man with such a passion for life” – including an “enthusiasm for walking in the Peak District”.
Dr Joshi worked at the Royal Derby Hospital and Queen’s Hospital Burton for four years, after moving to Derby from India in 2021. Neeraj Joshi from the Derby Hindu temple told of the community’s horror and explained how the dad had been working in Derby while his family remained in India for several years.
“He was bringing them over here where they were going to begin a new chapter in their lives and that has been taken away from them,” Neeraj said. “To think that all five members of a family are gone is just terrible, our thoughts and prayers are with them. I can’t imagine how their parents are feeling as well.”
Fellow worshipper, Ramesh Sharma, said: “Think about how excited people were to come home, people excited waiting for families on the other side.
“To hear that the doctor from Derby was coming back with his family to work just makes it even more tragic. It was really shocking and it has put me off flying all together. It was just horrible when I heard and I cannot stop thinking about it. My whole body went numb.”
In another heartbreaking case, two young girls, aged just four and eight, had been waiting for their daddy to come home, a few weeks after their mum died of cancer in the UK. They were left orphaned by the tragedy after their dad Arjun Patolia perished in the disaster.
The devoted husband had gone to India to honour his late wife Bharatiben’s final wishes to scatter her ashes in a sacred river back, in their ancestral India. After carrying out this final wish, Mr Patoliya , 36, completed several funeral rites with relatives in his village around 150 miles from Ahmedabad and was set to return to London on Thursday to be with his two young daughters.
Krish Jagdish Patolia, Arjun’s nephew, told India Today: “It’s heartbreaking. We have lost both of them in one week.” Arjun Patoliya’s wife Bharti Patoliya died just over two weeks ago from cancer. It was her final wish for her ashes to be scattered in Gujarat.
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In a GoFundMe organised for his children, his family said: “In a span of just 18 days, two young sisters — only 4 and 8 years old — have lost both of their beloved parents. Their mother, Bharti Patoliya, passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. Fulfilling her final wish, her husband Arjun Patoliya travelled to India to scatter her ashes in her homeland in Gujarat.
“But on his journey home to their daughters, tragedy struck again — Arjun was among those lost in the Air India Flight Tragedy in June 2025, shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad. Arjun left to bid farewell to his wife, never returned to the children they both raised. Now, these two beautiful young girls have been left without parents — their world turned upside down in just over two weeks.
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“This campaign, set up by close family and friends, aims to provide security, stability, and love in the years ahead. Your support will help.”
Besotted couple, Jamie, 45 and Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, 39, from London, said to be like “two sparks of joy” told of feeling calm before they flew back to the UK.
Wellness entrepreneur, Fiongal, had appeared with Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley on This Morning. Before boarding the flight they posted a video on social media saying they were going back to England with Fionagal blowing a kiss and saying they were at the airport about to board their plane.
Fiongal, who founded their Wellness Foundry business after a ‘mysterious illness’, sat next to Jamie, blew a kiss to the camera and said: “Goodbye India. Going back happily, happily, happily calm”. Jamie and Fiongal ran The Wellness Foundry in Ramsgate, in Kent, and London.
They were due to be hosting workshops at Ramsgate Pride on Saturday. Event organisers said on Instagram that they were “absolutely heartbroken” by the news.
Javed Syed and his wife Mariam, 35, from west London, and their two young children Zayn, five and Amani, aged four, had returned to India to visit the dad’s mum, who has been ill with a heart condition.
Mrs Syed worked at Harrods and Mr Syed worked at a west London hotel. Mariam’s sister in law, Yasmine Hassan, 44, from west London, said she had worked for almost a decade as a brand ambassador at Harrods.
Breaking down in tears as she spoke of their children, she told the Telegraph: “They are so small, they are five and four. And it’s just thinking how scared they must have been.”
A widow who died alongside two members of family on the crashed Air India flight was returning to the UK after her husband’s funeral.
Raxa Modha, her toddler grandson Rudra Modha, and daughter-in-law Yasha Kamdar, from Wellingborough, were travelling together. Mrs Modha had been in India for the cremation of her late husband, Kishor Modha, who had died from cancer in April. They were returning to the UK to organise a prayer meeting later this month in Mr Modha’s memory.
Inayatali Saiyedmiya Saiyed, 48, had travelled from Wembley to Ahmedabad to celebrate Eid. He was on board with wife Nafisa, 46, daughter Taskin, 25, a doctor, and son Waquee Ali, 22, who was in his final year studying computer science at City University, London.
Sisters Dhir Baxi and her sister Heer, in their 20s, had made a ‘surprise’ trip from London to visit their grandmother for her birthday.
Dhir was a designer with a degree in fashion design, and Heer was a project leader in the investment and renewable energy sector.
Adnan Master, 30, from Forest Hill, east London, was visiting relatives with his wife and child but it is understood he travelled back to London alone. He worked at a DIY store in east London and as a delivery driver.
Families have been giving DNA samples to help identify the remainder of the victims with many flying out to help identify their loved ones.
Sangeeta Gauswami is still waiting for news of her son Sanket. She told of her emotional goodbye, clinging tightly to the 19 year old who was heading off to the UK to start university in London.
