Gujarat govt to rebuild hostel damaged in AI-171 crash; victims’ kin seek memorial at site

AHMEDABAD: (May 27) A medical college hostel complex severely damaged in last year’s AI-171 Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad will be rebuilt, the Gujarat government has said, even as families of some victims want the site to be preserved as a memorial.

The government will build a new ultra-modern hostel facility at the same site at an estimated cost of Rs 105 crore, Health Minister Praful Pansheriya said on Tuesday.

The London-bound Air India flight AI-171 crashed into the hostel complex of BJ Medical College in Meghaninagar area moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12 last year, killing 241 persons on board and 19 persons on the ground. One passenger survived.