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Mangalore remembers crash victims

People from all religions stage memorial events one year after air tragedy
Mangalore remembers crash victims
Published: May 24, 2011 08:35 AM GMT
Updated: May 24, 2011 08:35 AM GMT

People in Mangalore have staged various memorial events to remember the victims of an air crash that took place one year ago in the southern Indian city. Only eight of 166 people on board an Air India flight from Dubai survived when it overshot the runway at Mangalore airport on May 22, 2010. On Sunday, around 1,000 people attended a special Mass organized by Jesuits to pray for the victims and their families. The previous day, around 500 people from attended a condolence prayer meeting organized by the Mangalore Aircraft Victims Families’ Association. Leaders of various religions prayed for the dead as well as their relatives at the inter-religious meeting. “Let’s transcend the sphere of shock and try to live the ideals which have been taught to us by departed members of our families,” Rajayogini Brahma Kumari P K Nirmala, a Hindu religious woman, told the gathering. Janab Abdul Khaddar, a Muslim priest, said the tragedy brought people of different religions together at a time when misunderstandings and enmity kept them separate. Jesuit Father Ravi Santhosh Kamath said common tragedies have no human barriers. “No permanent sojourners here. God is the one who gives light to the living and the dead,” he reminded the gathering. Several children offered floral tributes to the 23 children who died in the crash. Team Exotica, a Christian musical troupe, joined with the Jesuits’ Radio Sarang community radio to host a three-hour musical show in memory of the victims. The program also honored the only Christian survivor, Joel Pratap D’Souza. He said he is yet to get the job Air India promised him after the crash. The local village council has decided to set up a community hall with a reading room and medical center at the crash site. Mangalore air crash survivor thanks GodCrowds gather to pray for plane crash victims

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