One more passenger who was injured in the Karipur flight crash succumbed on Saturday after being under treatment for the past 14 days. 53-year-old Wayanad native Ibrahim succumbed following a cardiac arrest while being admitted in Aster MIMS Hospital in Kozhikode. According to hospital officials, Ibrahim had multiple fractures and had injuries to his liver. With this, the total number of people who lost lives in the accident shot to 20.
“He was being treated in Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. He had complications like diabetes, that was why he was shifted recently to MIMS for multiple surgery. But following surgery of his fractured leg, he had a cardiac arrest and succumbed,” an official of Aster MIMS.
On August 7 night, an Air India Express flight from Dubai crash landed at the Calicut International Airport in Malappuram district, jolting the state which was already shaken by a massive landslide that hit Pettimudi in Idukki earlier on the same day.
The flight which slid off from the runway had plunged into the valley below. The flight had arrived from Dubai as part of the Vande Bharat Mission, many passengers of which had lost jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 190 people onboard including the crew.
After plunging from the runway, it broke off into two pieces, with the head end crashing on a wall. Eighteen people including six cabin crew members, passed away on the same night. Last week, another man, a Malappuram native, who was under treatment following the crash, had also succumbed.
According to the survivors, it was mostly the cockpit area and the passengers who were seated in the front portion, who incurred most injuries.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) is presently probing into the accident to find out what exactly happened.