Air India Express flight crash: Locals mount rescue operation amid rains, Covid-19

Dubai - People were helping the injured into ambulances and several came back to help again.

Officials in Kerala have commended the efforts of locals who rushed to help with the rescue efforts as soon an Air India Express flight crash-landed in Kozhikode. They did this amid heavy rains and as the area remained under lockdown due to Covid-19.
Muhammad Rafi, standing committee chairman at Kondotty Municipality, told Khaleej Times over the phone from Kerala: "I heard a loud thud first. Soon after, I received a call from my friend, who asked me to keep things ready at the district's Relief Hospital and Trauma Centre and Mercy Hospital. These are the two hospitals which are closest to the airport.
"Within 15 minutes, the injured patients were being brought in. Since the last week of July, all zones in Kondotty were declared hotspots for Covid-19. Despite these concerns and before rescue teams reached the airport accident site, local residents from Chirayil Chungam, Paalakkaparamba, Mukoottu and Kondotty reached the airport amid the heavy rains to help the injured. It was so heart-warming to see this collective initiative on the part of the residents."
Though it is called Calicut (Kozhikode) airport, it is located in Kondotty in Mallapuram district.
Rafi said locals ferried the severely injured passengers in taxis, ambulances and their own cars to six hospitals around the airport as "only about 40-45 could be admitted at the relief hospital and another 30-40 at Mercy".
"If they wouldn't have stepped up efforts, the casualties could have been more. These are hospitals with relatively small occupancy rates and lesser number of beds. Around 100 ambulances arrived in no time in front of these hospitals and the critically injured then were rushed to bigger hospitals in Calicut."
People were helping the injured into ambulances and several came back to help again, Rafi added. "Many of them didn't have raincoats or umbrellas. The fear of the virus did not stop them from coming forward and helping."
'We used our vehicles to rush injured to hospital'
Two friends Junaid and Fazal, who live in the vicinity of the airport, were among the first people to reach the spot. "When I heard a big explosion, I thought it was lightning. But when I stepped out I could see a portion of the airplane upside down. I rushed to the spot while shouting and calling my neighbours for help. Once at the spot, I realised the engine was off. I heard cries of people asking for help. It was a gory sight. I entered through the emergency door. First I took three children and an adult out, and rushed them to an airport ambulance," Junaid told a Malayalam news channel.
Soon, Fazal and other neighbours reached the spot with their private vehicles. They stopped other motorists for help. No one thought twice before joining the life-saving mission.
"We rushed as many people as possible to the hospital in our vehicles. I kept sending messages to all known contacts seeking their help. Initial rescue was carried out by common people like us. No one bothered as their dresses got soaked with the blood of the poor passengers," Fazal said.
After hours of selfless service, both Junaid and Fazal along with those involved in rescue operations have been asked to go into self-quarantine.
nandini@khaleejtimes.com
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com
 

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