Jun 16, 2025 07:20 AM IST

The #Boeing 787 Dreamliner hit the medical school’s hostel buildings and eating halls on June 12, leaving 4 hostel buildings’ facade charred, and the 2 mess buildings partially collapsed.

Dr Minakshi Parekh, dean of the BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad that misplaced at the least 4 college students within the #Air India flight 171 crash, shares particulars of the bottom state of affairs, ongoing reduction efforts, and the emotional toll on college students and households in an interview to Prawesh Lama. The #Boeing 787 Dreamliner hit the medical school’s hostel buildings and eating halls on June 12, leaving 4 hostel buildings’ facade charred, and the 2 mess buildings partially collapsed. Edited excerpts:

BJ Medical College Dean Dr Minakshi Paresh shares particulars of the bottom state of affairs, ongoing reduction efforts, and the emotional toll on college students and households. (ANI)

What is the present state of affairs on the school?

Every company has stepped in to help the affected college students. Rooms have been organized for all college students, whereas meals is now being offered on the postgraduate mess for the reason that undergraduate mess was destroyed. Resident docs have been moved to vacant flats and non permanent lodging, together with these offered by the Lions Club.

NGOs and personal hospitals, too, have come ahead providing free remedy to injured college students. Every scholar and resident physician has been accommodated, and our medical college students are actively serving to households—offering counselling and aiding with blood pattern assortment.

There had been reviews of a shortage of rooms on the hospital. How is that being dealt with?

There is not any shortage of rooms. In reality, authorities officers and international embassy representatives visiting the crash website are additionally staying in our rooms.The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) officers are additionally working from the hospital complicated since it’s situated near the crash website.

One of our rooms has been transformed right into a most important workplace for AAIB, geared up with every little thing they want. A second workplace has additionally been arrange on the hostel. We’ve repurposed areas initially meant for different features to make sure the investigators can work effectively.

How are you coping with scholar deaths, accidents, and grieving households?

More than us, it’s the most difficult time for the households. However, one case that has stayed with me is from the primary day — when a person insisted on seeing the our bodies of his three relations within the autopsy room. He was inconsolable. Despite our greatest efforts to consolation him, protocol didn’t enable us to let him in. It took time, however round 12.30 am, he lastly agreed to attend outdoors.

Have grief counsellors been engaged on the hospital?

We’ve taken nice care to make sure that communication with households is dealt with sensitively. How do you inform a person that his son’s loss of life has been confirmed or how do you inform him to present his blood pattern to substantiate the loss of life? Some have nervousness, others are disturbed, and a few are breaking down. There are probabilities of folks growing post-traumatic stress.

Hence, we’ve deployed educated counsellors at three key factors — the blood pattern assortment centre, the management room within the superintendent’s workplace (the place households are knowledgeable as soon as DNA outcomes are confirmed), and the autopsy room the place our bodies are handed over. Our MD psychiatrists are conducting dwell periods with households even now (she factors in the direction of a dwell CCTV feed exhibiting ongoing counselling periods on the hospital).

Can you clarify the DNA assortment and reporting course of?

We’re gathering DNA samples from all relations on-site. Testing is being finished by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), which is a part of the National Forensic Science University. The FSL workforce is working across the clock. Once evaluation is full, reviews are despatched to the superintendent’s workplace at Civil Hospital. Families are then contacted with the outcomes.

Three households from overseas are anticipated to reach tomorrow to obtain the outcomes. The authorities is dealing with the general public launch of numbers and official information.