A 14-year-old boy was killed instantly when burning metal debris from Air India flight AI171 struck him while he slept under a tree on 12 Jun 2025.
Akash Patni was resting near his family’s tea stall in Ahmedabad’s Meghaninagar area, close to BJ Medical College hostel, when the tragedy occurred.
Teenager Killed by Burning Debris at Family Tea Stall
The teenager’s mother, Sita, 40, was operating a tea cart at the time. The family had run the tea stall for 30 years in the same location.
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Akash was taking an afternoon nap under the shade when Air India flight AI171 crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad International Airport. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was bound for London’s Gatwick Airport when it went down.
A massive piece of flaming metal debris plummeted from the sky, landing directly on the boy’s head. Flames quickly engulfed Akash.
His mother, Sita, tried to rescue him but suffered severe burns in the process. She managed to escape the fireball, unaware at first that her son had been left behind.
She is currently being treated for burn injuries in the Intensive Care Unit at Civil Hospital.
Flight Crashes Into Residential Area After Takeoff
The Air India flight was carrying 242 passengers and crew when it crashed into residential buildings shortly after departure. The impact created a massive fireball that spread to surrounding areas.
Akash’s elder brother Kalpesh Patni, who does odd jobs for survival, received a call at 1:30pm informing him about the incident. He said it was business as usual for his mother and brother at the time of the crash, though trade was slightly slow during the lunch hour.
The teenager’s body was burned beyond recognition. His father has provided DNA samples for identification purposes. Authorities informed the family they would only be able to collect Akash’s body after two days, though no reason was given for the delayed handover.
The Patni family had been living in a slum cluster that was demolished by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation about three months ago for the expansion of the BJ Medical Hospital campus.
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The area where the crash occurred was a vacant plot where children from the former slum cluster would sometimes come to play.
Local residents indicated that some children were playing in the area at the time of the crash and may have died in the incident.
The Air India crash has become one of India’s deadliest aviation accidents, with the death toll reaching 279 lives.
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