Air India plane crash: She got married 5 months ago, was set to join husband in London | India News
FARIDABAD: Scores of people have been turning up at Madan Singh’s shop in Sector 22 since Thursday evening. Well-wishers, acquaintances, even regular customers who had witnessed the year begin with wedding festivities and even partaken in celebrations.Singh’s daughter Khushboo got married in January Her husband, a Rajasthan boy, had a full-time job as a healthcare worker in London. Once the wedding bash was done, Khushboo was to join him in a few months after her visa & insurance papers got processed.Finally, June 12 was to be the day she would embark on her first international flight. Singh dropped Khushboo, who was staying in Rajasthan, off at Ahmedabad airport. The two said their goodbyes and took a selfie.On his way back, a notification popped up on Singh’s phone – a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the way to London Gatwick from Ahmedabad had crashed seconds after takeoff. It was flight AI 171, which Khushboo had just boarded.“The family was ecstatic after her wedding. We received special treats and gifts. Her father had been away at their native village for a month, helping with her visa and medical documentation for the London journey,” a worker at Singh’s Bikaner Mishthan Bhandar in Sector 22 said.The eldest of four siblings, Khushboo grew up in Araba village of Baltora in Rajasthan, with which her father still maintains strong ties, despite running three sweet shops far from home in Faridabad. Her husband Vipul Singh, a nursing officer at a London government hospital, is from Pali.June 27 would have been Khushboo’s 23rd birthday – a special occasion that she planned to celebrate with Vipul, who couldn’t get leave from work to accompany her on the London journey.“She took blessings from her in-laws and left with her father and cousin to catch the flight to London. After taking photos with her father outside the airport, she also sent him videos when she boarded the flight,” said Vikram Purohit, her uncle, who also runs a sweet business in Faridabad. “Her father had just left the airport when news of the crash surfaced on social media. The world crumbled around him,” Purohit added.For Singh, who should have been awaiting his daughter’s call confirming she had reached London, the wait has taken an unbearable turn. “The DNA test of her father was done hours after the crash on Thursday. We are waiting for the report now. Once that is ready, the body will be identified and handed over to us within 72 hours,” Purohit said.The crash, which occurred at 1.39 pm, left only one survivor among 242 passengers.Since Thursday evening, the family’s sweet shop has seen many turn up to express condolences. “We have been in a state of shock since the time we got to know about the plane crash. Everyone was so happy that someone from the family was finally going to London,” the staffer said.
