Trainee doctors at a medical college in Ahmedabad quickly helped after an Air India plane crashed into their campus. They pulled injured people from the wreckage and gave them medical help, even while the building was on fire.
Some students jumped out of windows to escape, but once they were safe, many returned to help those who were still trapped or injured, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.
“There was fire and many were injured,” said Navin Chaudhary, who had just started eating lunch when he heard a loud noise. “I felt that as a doctor I could save someone’s life,” he said. “I was safe. So I thought, whatever I can do, I should,” he added.
From the ground, he saw the tail of the Air India plane stuck in the hostel building. He and other students helped take the injured people out of the area that was on fire.
At least 270 people died when the Air India flight crashed into the medical college campus in Ahmedabad shortly after taking off on Thursday.
Only One Person Survived
Out of the 242 passengers on the plane, only one person survived. Another 29 people on the ground also died, including five medical students who were staying in the hostel.
Many believe the number of deaths could have been even higher if trainee doctors and students had not quickly run out of the burning hostel to rescue and treat their injured friends.
Senior Student Describes Terrifying Plane Crash
Akshay Zala, a senior medical student, said the crash felt ‘like an earthquake.’
“I could hardly see anything as thick plumes of smoke and dust engulfed everything. I was barely able to breathe,” he said.
He escaped through the smoke and dust, treated a cut on his leg, and then joined others at the medical college’s trauma centre to help care for the injured.
Rescue Efforts Continue as Cleanup and Identification Work Progress
On Monday, workers and machines were cleaning the crash site and removing debris while officials checked the building for clues to find out what caused the accident.
Less than a kilometre away, trainee doctors who survived one of India’s worst plane crashes were carefully identifying victims using DNA tests.
Minakshi Parikh, the college dean, said many of the doctors who helped rescue their friends from the wreckage went back to work the same day to save more lives. “They did that and that spirit has continued till this moment,” Parikh said.
Photos taken in the hostel dining area soon after the crash showed pieces of the airplane and scattered luggage on the floor. Plates with food were still on some dusty tables that were not damaged.
‘So that is human nature, isn’t it? When our own people are injured, our first response is to help them,” Parikh said, adding, “So the doctors who managed to escape… the first thing that they did was they went back in and dug out their colleagues who were trapped inside.”
“They might not even have survived because the rescue teams take time coming,” she added.
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