Details of Kerala crash victims will be given: MEA

New Delhi, May 22: The ministry of external affairs (MEA) will provide passport details of the passengers from Kerala who perished in the air crash at Mangalore airport to the Kerala government, an official said Saturday.

"MEA has obtained the information from the Consulate General of India in Dubai. Our regional passport office at Thiruvananthapuram is working closely with the state government of Kerala," an MEA official said.

Around 50 of the 159 people killed in the Air India crash were from Kerala.

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158 killed as Air India crashes near Mangalore airport

Mangalore (Karnataka), May 22: At least 158 people were killed Saturday morning when an Air India Express Boeing 737 with 166 passengers and crew flying from Dubai overshot the runway while landing at the Mangalore airport and turned into a ball of fire as it crashed into a forested ravine, authorities and witnesses said.

The aircraft was coming down in clear visibility around 6 a.m. when the Serbian pilot overshot the runway at Bajpe, some 30 km from Mangalore, and desperately tried to take off, member of parliament Sadananda Gowda said. But the plane hit a radar pole and spun out of control.

In no time, it smashed into the ravine almost a kilometre away amid a deafening roar, breaking into pieces. Only eight people, an infant included, miraculously survived the disaster as they crawled out of the burning broken parts of the Boeing. Some of the injured are stated to be critical.

Air India Director Anup Srivastava announced in Mumbai that the plane was carrying 160 passengers, including four infants, and six crew members.

Air India Express is the low cost arm of Air India.

A grim looking Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had said earlier that "survivors were unlikely". "Except for half a dozen people who were rescued, the rest may not have survived." he said in Bangalore, the state capital, before leaving for the crash site. "It is a grave tragedy."

Most passengers were Indians, many returning home from Dubai where they worked.

Survivor Ummar Farooq said the plane seemed to be on course for landing.

"Soon after it touched the runway, I heard a sound and saw smoke quickly fill the plane. Soon there was fire and all hell broke loose," he said.

"A crack appeared on the plane's body where I was seated. I immediately jumped out. Two or three people seated behind me also jumped out. I am hurt in my knees and suffered burns on my hands and face. As I fled from the aircraft, flames engulfed it," he said.

The airport at Bajpe is in a hilly area and considered one of the most difficult airports to land and take off from. The area had been experiencing heavy rains for the last two days.

There was no immediate official word, however, why the the accident occurred. Air India's Srivastava said only an investigation would dig out the truth but most accounts blamed the pilot, identified as F. Glusica.

The pilot gave no distress signal before the crash, Mangalore airport officials said.

Villagers from the neighbourhood were among the first to rush to the accident site but the huge flames leaping into the sky kept them away.

Firemen and police personnel from the airport quickly began rescue operations, only to come across ghastly scenes of mangled bodies strewn over a large area. Some charred bodies still had the seat belts on.

About 25 ambulances and over 20 fire tenders were involved in the operation that lasted about four hours. Large crowds gathered at the site, many rushing all the way from the airport where they had been waiting for the plane's arrival.

As firemen doused the flames, policemen began taking out bodies from the wreckage, many burnt beyond recognition. Each body had to be taken up the ravine by hand before being transferred to ambulances.

One of the passengers escaped with injuries on his knee and a minor fracture of the spine and was warded at the Kasturba Medical College Hospital in Mangalore. "He is stable, he has been shifted to the ward, and he is with the family," doctor Vir Singh said. "We also got patients brought dead, totally charred."

The rescue operations were hit for an hour as a drizzle turned into heavy rains. "It is a tragic incident," Karnataka Home Minister V.S. Acharya said.

The Mangalore airport manager Peter Abrahim said there were initial difficulties in reaching the accident.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condoled the loss of lives in the air crash at the Mangalore airport Saturday and ordered compensation of Rs.200,000 for the families of the dead and Rs.50,000 for the injured.

He also postponed an event scheduled at his official residence Saturday evening to celebrate his government's one year in office during its second tenure.

List of passengers on crashed Air India Express plane

Mumbai, May 22: Following is the list of passengers who travelled on the Air India Express plane that crashed Saturday in Mangalore city.

1. Harshini Poonja

2. Aaron Joel Fernandes

3. Niha Imthiaz

4. Bhaskaran T.V.

5. Komalavally Alinkeel

6. Narayana Kanthav Rao

7. Vani Narayana Rao

8. Vaishnavi Narayana Rao

9. Mohammad Ishaque Rafique Ahmed

10 Hasanabba Abubakkar

11. Hiba Azeena (child)

12. Mushina (child)

13. Haifa Hasha (infant)

14. Joyanrichard Saldanha

15. Ummer Farook Mohammed

16. Shahida Nushrathar

17 Zeshan Abdul Rehman (child)

18. Kannur Zulekha Banu

19. Nazeema Muhammad Ashraf

20.Satyanarayana Ballakuraya

21. Sujatha Rao

22. Fathimamehzan Shafqat

23.Rashaad Shafqatmahmood (infant)

24. Khader Ammangod Mohammed Shafy

25. Suhaib Mohammed Naseer (child)

26. Bibi Sara (child)

27. Nabeeha Mohammed Nasir (child)

28. Mohammad Asraf

29. Maimoona Asraf

30. Ashaz Abdulla (child)

31. Ayesha Afsheen (child)

32.Plaviashakunthala Lobo

33. Venishanikola Lobo

34. Vishalfloid Lobo (child)

35. Abdullah K.M.

36. Rosly Shibu

37. Godwina Thomas (child)

38. Gloria Thomas (child)

39. Bhagali Prabhakar

40. Kammadam Kunhabdulla

41. Shashikanth Punja

42. Manirekha Punja

43. Abdulbarr Damudi (child)

44. Mahesh Shetty

45. Mohamed Naser

46. Anwar Sadiq

47. Hassan Kutty

48. JoelPratap DSouza

49. Arunkumar Shetty

50. Abdul Samad

51. Prasadand Manjrekar

52. Krishnan Koolikunnu

53. Mullachery Balakrishnan

54. Shanthi Olivera

55. Chethana Mukeshkumar

56. Ahmednaushad Abbu

57. Rajan Pulikodan

58. Jayaprakasha Devadiga

59. Jayaram Kotian

60. Chitra Jayaram

61. Rahul Jayaram (child)

62. Prabhavati Karkera

63. Ashitha Bolar

64. Akshay Bolar

65. Suresh Kunder

66. Soman Narayani

67. Pradeep G.K.

68. Kallingalabullah

69. Thalangara Ebrahimkhaleel

70. Naziya Afarin

71. Mohammed Abaanruknuddin (child)

72. MohammedRafi Beliyapura

73. Abdullah Mohammed

74. Ibrahim Saheb

75. Sameena Saheb

76. Issam Ibrahim

77. Rida Ibrahim (child)

78. Perumbalamohammed

79. Shivakumar Nagaraj

80. Meenu Gupta

81. Shetty K.K.

82. Gangadharan Nair

83. Prabathkumar Attavar

84.Sathisha Shetty

85. Irshad Ahmed

86. Neha Parveen

87. Affan Ahmed (infant)

88. Sameerbeerran Moideen

89. Abdunnazir Avinja

90. Riju John

91. Sabrina Nasrinhuq

92. Mahammooda Abdulla Kanyana

93. Althafahmed Moolana

94. Lokeshasadananda Belchada

95. Hameed Pookayam

96. Mayankutty K.P.

97. Vipin Kattoor

98. Kishorekumar Kudpapoojary

99. Chandukutty Nair K.

100. NM Bharatham

101. Abdulazeez Anchikatta

102. Umashan Vijayan

103. Cavin Sequuiera

104. Reshmasanthosh Rai

105. Nalandshaunsantosh Rai (child)

106. Vihasantosh Rai (infant)

107. Vamana Prabhu

108. Ganesh Prabhu

109. Qazi Abdulsalam

110. Qazizulekah Khuddus

111. Jackson Periera

112. Mahammed Ismail

113. Naveen Kumar

114. Sanjaykumar Mahabal

115. Mahendra Kodkany

116. Indumathi Nayak

117. Vijesh Kovval

118. Ramakrishna Nayak

119. Ajesh Mottathil

120. Navid Ibrahim

121. Ignatius DSouza

122. Sukumara Kuzhiyamkottuchal

123. Abdul Basheer KM

124. Mohiddin Farasusman

125. Mahim Mohammedpalli

126. Mohammedashraf KA

127. Mohamed Usman

128. Naveenwalter Fernandes

129. Saritaphilomena Dsouza

130. Ullas Dsilva

131. Mannapadupuashraf Abdul

132. Safdharali Sheik

133. Mahesh Shetty

134. Abdulharish Koppalamhouse

135. Abdul Jebran

136. Parambathkunhi Krishnan

137. Prabhakaran Pachikaran

138. Nekkareibrahim Ismail

139. Melwynkiran Menezes

140. Siddeeque Choorisulaiman

141. Putturismail Abdulla

142. Somashekhar Potyalsrinivasa

143. Lokesh Narayanan

144. Lolitta Dias

145. Lilly Dias

146. Praveena Sundar

147. Hilda Douza

148. Pradeep Deepanivas

149. Denis Saldanha

150. Ashton Saldanha (child)

151. Manthur Hassainar

152. Rama Satish

153. Mohammed Basheer

154. Aboobacker Siddeeq

155. Mohammed Usman

156. Shaileshrao Brahmavara

157. Mohammed Ziad

158. Sameena Abdul Karim

159. Zainab Mohammedziad (child)

160. Mohammed Subairzaid (child)

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Two Dubai residents lucky to miss flight that crashed

Dubai/New Delhi, May 22: Two Dubai residents have thanked their lucky stars they didn't board the Air India Express aircraft that crashed in Mangalore Saturday. One had to change his travel plans due to his office workload while the other simply mistook the timing.

Kunhikannan Chandu, 51, manager of the Lulu Hypermarket in Al Qusais, was supposed to go to Mangalore to help his son get admitted to an engineering college. But, he missed the ill-fated flight because his boss piled on extra work.

"I had booked my ticket to fly to Mangalore on Saturday morning. I was going to help my son with his admission to engineering college.

"However, I was told by my manager that I could not go because there was too much important work to get through. I postponed my flight to Saturday evening and then I woke up to this terrible news," Gulf News quoted Chandu as saying.

"God has blessed me and my family; he intervened to save my life. I feel really shaken but I told my general manager this morning that he had saved my life."

Theresiamma Philip was also incredibly lucky as she mistook the timing and missed the Flight IX 812.

"I can't believe how lucky I am to be alive," recounted Philip to NDTV news channel.

"I was to take the flight, but mistook the a.m. to be p.m. and missed it."

"I was ruing having missed my flight when my daughter called up from Mangalore and asked me to put on the news. They were flashing the news, but even then I could not connect the two. It was only a little later when it dawned on me that it was my plane which had crashed."

At least 159 people were killed Saturday when Air India Express aircraft flying in from Dubai crashed while landing at Mangalore's "table top" airport. The plane overshot the runway and plunged down a cliff.

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