At 28, he lost his job, his wife left him: Ahmedabad plane crash still haunts victim

Whenever Ajay Parmar sees a plane overhead, fear grips him. At 28, he has no steady job, his marriage is over, and sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night.

Parmar was riding home on his two-wheeler when the Air India flight AI-171 crashed into the Meghaninagar hostel complex and he found himself amid burning debris.

A resident of Meghaninagar, he worked as a gardener at the medical college hostel complex, and had got married only a month before.

"I suddenly heard a loud crash. Before I could understand anything, my hands and legs were on fire," he said, remembering the moment when the disaster struck on June 12, 2025.

Parmar abandoned his vehicle and ran.

"The last thing I saw was my vehicle engulfed in flames. After that I remember nothing. I fell down unconscious. Someone took me to Civil Hospital," he said.

He spent two months under treatment for severe burns. Doctors said he should not work under direct sunlight, so he had to quit his job.

Then his wife left him. "She left because I could not work, and my physical appearance had changed because of the burns," said Parmar.

He tried to find an office job. But people would sit away from him during lunch time because of his appearance.

"They didn't want to see my scars."

His mother works as a domestic help, and she helps him with his financial needs.

"I still fear planes overhead. I witnessed that horrifying scene of nothing but fire, and sometimes I wake up in the night and cannot go back to sleep," he said.