Doctor couple’s dreams of new beginning in UK turned to ashes

A doctor couple’s dreams of a new beginning together as a family in UK turned into a nightmare and their last trip together as the ill-fated flight that was to take them to London crashed seconds after take-off on Thursday.

Now, the young couple from Rajasthan’s last selfie with their children has emerged and is breaking hearts.

The Air India 171 flight to London-Gatwick that the doctor couple and their three little children were on, took off from Ahmedabad airport on Thursday and was in the air for 32 seconds before it failed to climb further and descended rapidly and exploded into a fireball after hitting a building, killing all but one of the 242 people aboard the plane and numerous others on the ground.

According to NDTV, doctor Komi Vyas, who used to work in a hospital in Udaipur, had quit her job and was moving to join her husband, Dr Prateek Joshi, in London with their three children. Dr Joshi had moved to London some time ago and had returned to Banswara in Rajasthan earlier this week to take the family with him.

"They left for Ahmedabad yesterday to take the flight to London. Prateek had come here just two days ago to take his wife and children with him. Several other members of both families went to see them off," Dr Joshi's cousin, Nayan told NDTV.

The selfie that emerged on Friday, taken by Dr Joshi on the ill-fated aircraft, shows him and his wife seated on one side, smiling, and their young twin boys Nakul and Pradyut (5) and elder daughter Miraya (8) sitting across the aisle.

The joy on their faces was infectious as the family looked forward to a new life in London together.

Now, the last selfie taken by the family is all that is left as a reminder of a beautiful yet short life they had lived together before they were snatched away by the cruel hand of fate.