AHMEDABAD: Nearly four decades apart, two devastating air crashes in Ahmedabad saw Dr. Hasmukh Patel — now an MLA from Amraiwadi — step into the same haunting role: that of an impromptu emergency worker at BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital, writes Parag Dave.
In 1988, Patel was just a second-year MBBS student when Indian Airlines Flight 113 crash-landed near Kotarpur while approaching Ahmedabad from Mumbai. All 133 passengers and crew on board perished.
"I remember rushing to the post-mortem room. Our college was short-staffed, and we did whatever we could to help. Dr. Deshmukh, who headed the forensic department, led us. There were so many bodies, we barely had space to move," Patel recalled.
Then, on June 12 this year, tragedy struck again — Air India flight AI 171 went down, and Patel once more found himself at the Civil Hospital, lending a hand amid the chaos.
"I helped the team tag body bags. Just like in 1988, the victims were unrecognizable. It was heartbreaking," he said.
