Officials say the Boeing 787 aircraft had 242 passengers and crew on board when the accident occurred.
A former Auckland couple killed in the Air India disaster died before they could fulfil their dreams of home and family, their New Zealand-based aunt says.
Rachna and Rozar Christian were among 242 people on board the London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner when it crashed just after take-off from the Indiancity of Ahmedabad on Thursday.
A British man was the sole survivor.
Funerals for the beloved couple are on hold while attempts are made to identify their remains using relatives’ DNA.
Rachna and Rozar lived in Mt Roskill for five years but left in 2021 after they were unable to extend their visas, their Manurewa-based aunt Dayana Macwan said.
“They wanted to stay … Covid happened, and they couldn’t get [a visa],” Macwan said.
Rozar (left) and Rachna Christian were on Air India flight 171 when it crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing all but one British man. The married couple lived in Auckland for several years before moving to London.
It was sad the couple died before they got to “enjoy their life” in the way they had dreamed, Macwan said.
“They were too young to go.”
Part of the landing gear was among wreckage scattered across the crash site of Air India flight 171 in Ahmedabad. Photo / Siddharaj Solanki/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Rozar, her nephew through marriage to husband Danny Macwan, was “always happy, always smiling”.
“He was a family boy. He liked to spend time with us, and he loved to eat with us.”
His wife was “a lovely girl”, she said.
The couple had made a life in New Zealand after Rachna moved here in 2016 on a student visa, studying at the Imperial College of New Zealand, with Rozar joining her soon after.
He’d previously studied pharmacy in Britain and continued his studies in New Zealand. Both also worked part-time at a cleaning company.
Rachna and Rozar Christian, pictured on holiday in the South Island in 2021, were described by one friend as a "beautiful couple".
“It’s very hard to explain what happened. It’s so wrong.”
Another friend described the pair as a “beautiful couple”, who were known by many Aucklanders.
“They were going back to London after a visit to India when this tragedy struck.”
Macwan said her husband had travelled to India after hearing about the tragedy.
Family had provided DNA to officials to help identify Rachna and Rozar’s remains but had not received any news back, which was delaying funerals, she said.
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
