Faridabad: It was a beautiful windy Wednesday night with residents of Parvatiya colony in Faridabad getting ready to go to bed when a bright light and an unusual sound from the sky jolted them out of their slumber.
The light and the sound came from an air ambulance crashing into the residential colony resulting in 10 people being killed. The air ambulance was carrying Rahul Raj, a critical patient suffering with jaundice, and six others from Patna to New Delhi, for further treatment.
The plane crashed into the houses of Parvatiya Colony, killing all seven on board and three on ground. Residents of Parvatiya colony didn't just lose their sleep but lost the lives of loved ones and also property.
The morning after saw the residents and family members in a somber and depressed mood. To add to their woes, there has been no electricity and residents of the houses on which the plane crashed, have no place to even stay.
The plane, according to reports, crashed immmediatley after what is claimed to be an engine failure. However, residents near the crash site say that they could hear the plane circle around the area for almost 30 minutes before the crash took place. None of the residents actually saw the plane due to the dust storm but they could hear it.
"The plane was taking rounds of the place for almost half-an-hour, but due to the weather and the dust storm we could not see anything until it fell form the sky," recounts a resident, Sunita.
The plane crashed on House No. 1253, Parvatiya, in Faridabad and its rear fan got stuck on the tin roofing of the house, while the remaining parts of the plane fell on House No. 1254. The plane caught fire after the crash due to which House No. 1254 caught fire and now just the main wall remains standing.
The atmosphere surrounding both houses is heartbreaking and depressing as not only have the residents lost their homes but also their loved ones.
The crash claimed the lives of three women residents of House No, 1254, Vedwati Sehrawat (Mother), Sarita (daughter) and Rani Sehrawat (daughter-in-law).
House owner Shobha Ram Sehrawat, his son Deepak, who was married to Rani, and Sarita's seven-year-old son Yash survived the crash.
"This shouldn't have happened with my family. This is not the kind of life I wanted to live," says Deepak, who is inconsolable after the great loss.
What hurts him more is that he thought the women being older to Yash would be able to save themselves and hence he saved the seven-year-old.
"When the incident happened I rushed to save Yash's life, thinking the women would be able to save their own. But when I went back for them, i realised that they could not save themselves," Deepak says.
Not just Deepak, all his neighbours are shocked as they could never imagine that such a tragedy could take place.
Mukesh Kumar, resident of House No. 1258, was on his terrace enjoying the weather when he heard an unusual noise from the skies and after a while he saw the plane falling on the houses right in front of him.
"I was on the terrace of my house and I heard strange sounds coming from the sky. It wasn't a normal sound of a plane, it was very unusual. And then, around 10:45 pm I saw a plane, which appeared to have lost balance, falling on 1253. The back fan got stuck on 1253 and the rest on 1254. It immediately caught fire after falling down on the houses," says Mukesh.
"It is a terrible lose to the family of Shobha Ram and to the entire neighbourhood," he adds.
Indra, owner of House No. 1253 where the plane fell, is also terribly upset over the crash.
"When I saw the plane falling it was already on fire. It first hit the tin roof of my house and then parts of the plane fell on House No. 1254. I am terribly upset that we had to face such a big loss to the community but at the same time I feel blessed that my family is safe," says Indra.
Not just the residents but even official who rushed to the spot after the crash are disturbed by what happened. A police constable who reached the accident site within 20 minutes of it being reported said that when he reached he could see fire, mangled body parts, a site he wishes he hadn't seen.
"I reached the site withing 20 minutes and when I reached I saw the bodies in a bad condition. Some of them were burnt and there were body pieces everywhere. When I spoke to people, the people told me the plane caught on fire after falling on the houses," he says.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kishen Pal Gujjar arrived at the spot on Thursday morning and condoled the family after inspecting the crash site.
"Ten minutes after the crash the air force team reached the spot. The plane lost balance and crashed because of bad weather," Ratan Lal, owner of House No. 1253, told Gujjar.
Parvatiya Colony has lost a lot in just a few hours and life might never be the same for them.
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