FlyDubai crash: Couple from Kerala among 62 killed

mangaloretoday.com

Dubai, March 20: A young couple from Kerala — Shyam Mohan, 27, and his wife, Anju, 26 — were among 62 people killed when a Dubai airliner crashed while trying to land in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Saturday.

The Boeing 737-800 operated by FlyDubai was carrying 55 passengers and seven crew members. The airline confirmed that there were no survivors and said four children were among those killed.

 

 

According to official sources, Mohan and Anju were from Vengola village near Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district. Their relatives said Mohan and Anju were working as Ayurveda therapists at a spa in Rostov-on-Don. While Anju had been working there for the last four years, Mohan had moved to Russia last year.

The couple were returning to Russia after a two-month leave. They left Kochi on Thursday night. After reaching Dubai, Mohan called up his parents on Friday and promised to call on reaching Rostov-on-Don.

Sources said Mohan, the son of a carpenter, was the lone breadwinner of his family. While he moved to Russia soon after he married Anju in November 2014, he got the job as an Ayurveda therapist only recently.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy assured the family that every effort would be made, through the Ministry of External Affairs, to bring back the bodies.

The cause of the crash wasn’t immediately known, but officials and experts pointed at a sudden gust of wind as a possible reason.

 

All sixty-two people on board a flydubai Boeing 737 were killed when the plane crashed and burst into flames as it was landing in Rostov-on-Don, in Southern Russia, on Saturday morning, officials said.

"A Boeing 737 crashed as it was coming into land. There were 62 people on board. They are all dead," said a spokesman from the local ministry, quoted by the official TASS news agency.

There were 55 passengers and six crew members on the plane, the official added.

The accident happened at 0050 GMT, according to an official statement from the emergencies ministry.

"The Boeing 737 on the Dubai to Rostov-on-Don route caught fire (after crashing)," said the statement, adding that it took an hour to bring the fire under control.

The plane hit the ground a few hundred metres (yards) from the runaway as it was making its second attempt to land in poor visibility, Russian news channel LifeNews reported.