Som Patidar

1 week ago | abc.net.au | Meghna Bali |Som Patidar |Bhat Burhan

Imtiaz Ali Syed is holding out for a miracle. His brother, Javed Ali Syed, was flying home to London. But the Boeing 787 Dreamliner carrying him, his wife Mariam, and their two young children — Zayn and Amani — fell out of the sky just 30 seconds after take-off. Flight AI171 was headed from Ahmedabad, a city in western India, to London Gatwick Airport when it crashed into one of BJ Medical College's hostels, erupting into flames and killing 241 of the 242 people on board.

2 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Meghna Bali |Bhat Burhan |Som Patidar

Authorities say the death toll from the Air India plane crash could rise as emergency crews continue combing through the wreckage. Families who are waiting to formally identify loved ones killed in the crash have been told they may need to wait up to 72 hours. Air accident experts from the US and UK have arrived in India to support an investigation. Inayat Saiyad sent his final message to the family WhatsApp group just after midday on Thursday.

2 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Meghna Bali |Som Patidar |Bhat Burhan |Ellie Grounds

Traumatic scenes have played out across the Indian city of Ahmedabad as families of those on flight AI171 arrived at hospitals desperate for information about their loved ones. Warning: This story contains details some readers may find distressing. The flight was moments into its journey to London when it sent a mayday call to local aviation authorities early on Thursday afternoon (local time).

Mar 24, 2025 | abc.net.au | Ellie Grounds |Som Patidar

It was an innocuous thing any five-year-old would do. When Sadia Sulaiman was a child, construction work on her neighbour's house produced the perfect place to play — a mud pit. So she did. She played in it, came home and had a bath. Then, the fever hit. For 21 days, she had high temperatures. One night, a doctor gave her an injection. By the next morning, she could not walk. "My legs were not good," she recalls.

Feb 18, 2025 | abc.net.au | Ellie Grounds |Som Patidar

The last time Pakistan hosted an international cricket tournament, Meher Mohammad Khalil became a hero. But it wasn't for scoring centuries or leading his country to victory. It was for saving the opposing Sri Lankan team's lives. Mr Khalil, a bus driver, was chauffeuring the Sri Lankans in 2009 from their Lahore hotel to Gaddafi Stadium when armed militants opened fire on their bus. "They were firing on us from all sides," Mr Khalil recalled. "I put on the brakes and wondered what was happening.