Ahmedabad plane crash: Man collects 70 tolas of gold, cash from crash site, hands it to officials; used sarees & bedsheets to carry injured | Ahmedabad News
GANDHINAGAR: When news broke of a plane crash at B J Medical College, 56-year-old construction businessman Raju Patel did not hesitate. Just minutes away, Patel rushed to the site with his associates and arrived within five minutes of the crash.What he witnessed was chaos: thick smoke, rising flames, and cries for help. Amid the fire and devastation, He helped move the injured and later took on the task of sifting through the wreckage for gold jewellery, cash, and documents which he later handed over to the investigating authorities.“For the first 15 to 20 minutes, we could barely get close. The fire was too intense. But once the first fire brigade arrived, followed by 108 ambulances, we jumped in to help,” the 56-year-old recalled. With no stretchers in sight, they used sarees and bedsheets to carry the injured to ambulances.With immediate rescue work almost completed by about 4pm, Patel and his team turned to another critical task. They began sifting through the burnt bags strewn all over the place. “We found 70 tolas of gold jewellery in boxes apart from bangles and other ornaments. We also found Rs 80,000 in cash, a copy of the Bhagawad Gita, and passports from the bags. We collected all these and handed them over to the authorities,” he told TOI.Authorities permitted them to continue working at the site until 9pm that evening. “I’m just grateful we could do something,” the businessman said.On Sunday, Minister of state for home, Harsh Sanghavi, said that items belonging to victims are being collected, documented, and will be returned to the next of kin of the deceased in the crash.Patel, who had previously volunteered during the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts, said this was the most devastating emergency he had ever witnessed. “I was just 100m away from the Civil Hospital when a bomb exploded, killing several people. However, the destruction, the flames, the loss wrought by the crash is something I will never forget,” he said.
