Anand Modi | Ahmedabad2 hours ago
For the students of BJ Medical College’s Atulyam-4 hostel, June 12, 2025, began like any other day. Lunch was being prepared in the hostel mess. Fresh rotis were coming off the stove, papad had been roasted and sauce bottles were placed on the counter. By around 1.30 pm, MBBS students had started gathering for their afternoon meal.
Just minutes later, at 1.38 pm, Air India Flight AI-171 took off from Ahmedabad airport. Within moments, tragedy struck. At around 1.40 pm, the aircraft crashed into the Atulyam-4 hostel building. The impact turned an ordinary lunch hour into one of the darkest moments in the city’s history. Among the students seated for lunch, four lost their lives.
Today, a year later, some of the scenes remain frozen in time. The stacks of rotis, the roasted papad and other remnants of that afternoon have become silent reminders of lives cut short. Those students, who were training to become doctors and serve others, never got that chance.
One year later, the scars remain
June 12, 2026 marks the first anniversary of the Ahmedabad plane crash tragedy. The disaster claimed 270 lives and left deep emotional scars on families, survivors and the wider community.
As part of a ground report marking one year since the crash, the Divya Bhaskar team visited the site. Even today, traces of the tragedy remain visible. A saffron-coloured car, a damaged motorcycle and a gas cylinder still stand as reminders of the devastation. The Atulyam-4 hostel, once filled with student life, now appears eerily silent.
Residents living near the crash site continue to struggle with the memories. Locals told Divya Bhaskar that a young man who witnessed graphic scenes during the aftermath has remained unwell ever since.
A site preserved by memory and security
Security personnel continue to guard the crash site round the clock in three shifts to prevent unauthorised entry. Several sections of the hostel remain damaged, with parts of the structure still bearing visible signs of the impact.
The three hostel blocks affected by the crash continue to stand in a partially damaged state. Broken windows, damaged doors and other structural scars remain largely unchanged, serving as stark reminders of a tragedy that continues to haunt Ahmedabad one year on.
New leaves had sprouted on the tree located in Atulyam’s campus, but the color had turned black due to burning.
The tragedy left scars on nature as well
Fragments of aircraft wreckage and hostel debris can still be seen piled up at various spots around the site. After an entire monsoon season has passed since the crash, the hostel campus now appears cleaner, while public access to the area remains restricted.
Several trees standing inside the hostel compound bear silent witness to the disaster. In the immediate aftermath of the crash, many were reduced to charred trunks by the intense fire. Yet, with the arrival of the rains, fresh leaves have emerged from the blackened branches.
The scene serves as a poignant reminder that the tragedy did not only claim human lives. It also left a lasting impact on the surrounding environment, affecting trees, birds, animals and the natural landscape that became an unwilling witness to one of the worst aviation disasters in the city’s history.
Vehicles lying behind the hostel are still in the same condition as on June 12, 2025.
Burnt vehicles stand as silent reminders of lives interrupted
At the rear of the hostel, more than ten damaged vehicles, including motorcycles, bicycles and cars, remain where they were left on the day of the crash. Most belonged to students who were present in the hostel when the aircraft struck.
A year later, the vehicles are still in a severely burnt condition. Rust has spread across their frames, altering their original colour and appearance. The tyres have long since melted away, leaving only metal rims behind. In many cases, engines, batteries and other components are no longer visible.
The burnt Bullet motorcycles, bicycles and cars remain frozen in time, much as they were after the disaster unfolded shortly after 1.40 pm on June 12, 2025. Today, they stand as silent reminders of lives and routines abruptly interrupted, bearing witness to a tragedy that changed countless futures in a matter of moments.
Even today, the dining tables in the mess were in a condition that seemed to refresh the wounds of that tragedy.
Access to upper floors remains sealed one year on
Many of the students trapped inside the hostel were rescued through the rear balcony area during the emergency operation that followed the crash. Rescue teams had to break several window panes to reach those stranded inside. Even today, some of those windows remain partially shattered, bearing visible signs of the frantic efforts to save lives.
To prevent unauthorised access, the staircase leading to the upper floors has been completely sealed off with metal sheets. The damaged sections of the building remain inaccessible, while some personal belongings left behind by students on the day of the tragedy are still inside the hostel, untouched and preserved as silent reminders of that afternoon.
The mess that was bustling with medical students at noon has become deserted today.
The aircraft’s tail section came down behind the hostel mess
After visiting the hostel block, the Divya Bhaskar team reached the mess building, which was one of the busiest areas of the campus during lunchtime. The two-storey mess regularly served hundreds of students, with most of them dining on the first floor during the afternoon.
Today, the building remains sealed from all sides. The area carries particular significance because the tail section of the aircraft crashed behind the mess and remained lodged there for nearly two days after the disaster. Rescue and recovery operations continued around the site before the wreckage was eventually removed.
According to officials involved in the operation, the body of a cabin crew member was recovered from the tail section two days after the crash, making the location one of the most sensitive areas within the wider crash site.
Where the plane’s tail was removed, there is still a large hole today,
Damaged walls and debris still bear the scars of the crash
The section where the aircraft’s tail was embedded has since been cleared, but a large gaping hole remains in the structure. Through it, much of the mess building is still visible. On the ground floor, personal belongings once used by students were found scattered among the debris. Broken walls, cracked surfaces and piles of rubble could be seen throughout the area.
As one climbs the staircase, shattered bricks, stones and other remnants of the destruction remain strewn across the passageways. The first floor, where hundreds of students would normally gather for meals, now stands deserted.
Rows of dining benches, capable of seating more than 200 students, are still in place but are covered in dust. From this floor, the area where the aircraft’s tail section came down can be clearly seen. Ceiling fans hang damaged, no functioning lights remain, and the floor is littered with debris, broken masonry and fragments of brickwork provides a glimpse of the devastation that unfolded within moments.
An eerie silence hangs over the kitchen
Behind the dining area lies the mess kitchen, once a bustling space that prepared meals for hundreds of students every day. Today, it remains shrouded in darkness, with visibility so poor that a torch is needed to move around inside.
Cooking utensils lie scattered across the floor, while several cupboards have collapsed under the impact of the crash. Flour, grains and other food supplies that spilled from the storage units remain strewn across the ground. Much of the scene appears untouched, frozen in the condition it was left in after the disaster.
Standing inside the kitchen, it feels as though time has stood still, preserving the final moments of an ordinary afternoon that ended in extraordinary tragedy.
Even today, when a plane flies over the crash site, locals get frightened for a moment.
On the day of the accident, a large number of students were present in the hostel. They had not yet eaten and some students had even reached for meals, when suddenly the plane crashed on the hostel and people ran to save their lives without thinking anything. Due to this, rotis were found in the mess in the same condition for a year.
A year on, the site continues to draw silent visitors
Even a year after the tragedy, the crash site continues to attract attention from those passing through the stretch between Meghaninagar FSL Crossroads and Ghoda Camp. Many motorists instinctively slow down as they approach the area, while some stop briefly to record videos or discuss the events of that day. Others deliberately avoid the route, unable to revisit memories associated with the disaster.
For some, however, the site has become a place of remembrance. Local residents and relatives of victims are known to visit periodically to pay tribute to those who lost their lives.
Speaking to Divya Bhaskar, Naresh Patel, who delivers tiffins to the hostel mess, recalled his experience on the day of the crash. He said, “My wife works in the mess kitchen, and I had just delivered the tiffins there. I was on the ground floor when the incident occurred. Everything changed within two or three minutes.”
‘Had I arrived two minutes later, I might not have survived’
Recalling the moments after the crash, Naresh Patel said, “Rescue teams reached the site within a short time and local people immediately joined the operation alongside personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)”.
He stated, “We helped pull out those trapped under the debris. People were in complete shock and panic. Nothing seemed real at that moment.” According to Patel, around 15 students were rescued from the damaged structure during the initial operation.
He remembered seeing the aircraft’s tail section lodged behind the mess building and remained at the site assisting rescue efforts until around 5 pm.
Reflecting on how narrowly he escaped the disaster, Patel said, “Had I arrived just two minutes later, I could have been among those buried under the rubble.”
‘The tragedy also took away our livelihood’
Krishnaben, who lives with her family in a hut near the Atulyam hostel complex, recalled the terrifying moments of the crash and its lasting impact on her family’s livelihood.
She said, “I was making rotis when I suddenly heard a massive explosion. As I stepped outside, a burning object fell on my foot. I shouted to the students nearby and everyone rushed out.”
While the crash left behind physical destruction, it also disrupted the lives of many people who depended on the hostel for work. Krishnaben had been employed as a cleaner at the premises, but after the disaster the work stopped.
She added, “The crash did not just destroy buildings; it affected our employment as well. I used to earn a living there, but now there is no work.”
‘We handed over our rickshaw and cart during the rescue operation, but never got them back’
Zenabhai, who lived in a hut beside the Atulyam hostel complex, said the crash changed life for many families in the area. His sons used to earn a living at the hostel, carrying out odd jobs such as cleaning vehicles and transporting goods.
He recalled, “I was at home that day as it was my day off. Suddenly, I heard three loud blasts. At first, it felt as though bombs had exploded. When a nearby tree caught fire, we started running. In the chaos, I fell and injured my chest.”
According to Zenabhai, the aftermath of the disaster brought not only trauma but also financial hardship. He said, “The work we depended on disappeared after the crash.”
He added, “During the rescue operation, he and others assisted the authorities in every way they could. “We gave our pedal rickshaw and handcart to help transport bodies from the site, but neither was ever returned.”
He added that residents living near the crash site were not allowed to return to their homes for nearly two months. He further said, “Only after the police completed their enquiries in the area were we permitted to move back to our huts.”
275 people died in the plane crash accident
On June 12, a flight from Ahmedabad Airport to London crashed during take-off. In this fatal accident, 270 people died, including 241 out of 242 people on board the aircraft. Fortunately, one person on the aircraft was rescued. This plane crash caused a stir across the entire world. In the plane crash, not only did people on board lose their lives, but some doctors at Ahmedabad Medical College also lost their lives, because the plane collided with the medical college hostel.
