Kingston charitable organisation organises collective prayer for Air India crash victims
A Kingston-based non-profit charitable organisation, Namaste Kingston, is organising a collective prayer for the victims of an Air India flight to Gatwick, carrying 242 people, which crashed into a medical college hostel moments after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on Thursday, 12 June.
The crash killed 229 passengers and 12 crew members – only one person on the flight survived.
Among the passengers and crew on the Gatwick-bound aircraft were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons – including a person from Kingston, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national.
In a statement, the families of three British citizens who lost their lives said they were calling on the UK government to "immediately step up its presence and response on the ground in Ahmedabad".
The families said they rushed to India to be by their loved ones' sides, "only to find a disjointed, inadequate, and painfully slow government reaction", according to Sky News.
"There is no UK leadership here, no medical team, no crisis professionals stationed at the hospital," said a family spokesperson.
"We are forced to make appointments to see consular staff based 20 minutes away in a hotel, while our loved ones lie unidentified in an overstretched and under-resourced hospital.
"We're not asking for miracles - we're asking for presence, for compassion, for action," another family member said.
"Right now, we feel utterly abandoned."
Namaste Kingston is also planning to organise a Go Fund Me campaign in support of the bereaved family members of the person from Kingston who died in the crash.
Moreover, the Kingston and Surbiton Green Party is standing in solidarity for the crash victims.
Dr Debjyoti Das, a Kingston and Surbiton Green Party member, said: "members standing in silence with the victims of the Air India crash! We collectively pray for the departed soul! Let's stand in solidarity and strength with our South Asian community in Surbiton and Kingston."
Anyone who has been affected by the tragedy ca reach out to Kingston Hospital for mental health support.
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