Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was killed in the shocking Air India plane crash that occurred on Thursday afternoon. The flight AI-171 crashed shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad on June 12. Rupani was among the 242 passengers who were on board the plane. Unverified reports suggest that Rupani was listed as passenger number 12 on the flight manifest. He was booked in Z class, which falls under the Business Class category.
The London-bound flight, operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, crashed in the Meghani Nagar area which is a residential locality not far from the airport.
Who was Vijay Rupani?
Vijaybhai Ramniklalbhai Rupani was a senior BJP leader. He served as the 16th Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2016 to 2021, holding office for two consecutive terms. He was also a Member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly from the Rajkot West constituency.
Rupani is survived by his wife and two children. The couple had earlier lost their youngest son, Pujit, in an accident. In his memory, they had established the Pujit Rupani Memorial Trust, which works on various charitable initiatives.
Air India Crash: What we know so far
The aircraft took off from Ahmedabad around 1:38 PM and crashed just five minutes after taking off. The flight was headed to London Gatwick and was being piloted by Captain Sumit Sabharwal, with Clive Kunder as the co-pilot.
There were 242 passengers on board, including 230 adults and 2 infants. Additionally, 12 crew members were on the flight, bringing the total number of people on board to 242. Emergency teams were immediately deployed to the crash site, and rescue operations are ongoing.