An elderly couple hailing from Maharashtra's Solapur district planned to meet their son in London and were on board the ill-fated plane that crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday shortly after its take-off, a senior official said.
Mahadev Pawar (68) and his wife Asha (60) hailed from Hatid village in Sangola tehsil in Solapur. A senior official from Solapur district administration said the Pawars had been living in Ahmedabad.
"Mahadev Pawar used to work in a textile mill in Nadiad (in Gujarat). He had two sons - one living in Ahmedabad and the other in London. The couple was on board the plane that crashed minutes after the take-off," the official said.
According to sources, the Pawar family had left Sangola and settled in Gujarat 15 years ago.
They had recently visited Hatid to meet their relatives, they said.
The London-bound Air India plane carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed moments after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon.
According to Air India, the Boeing 787-8 aircraft from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick was carrying 242 passengers and crew members. Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese and one Canadian national.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in Gujarat that authorities will announce the number of those killed in the plane crash only after DNA tests and verification of passengers.
