Freedom Meet: A colourful get-together by Indian Social Forum

Dubai, Aug 7: One may call it good luck, but for two Indian expats it was God who prevented them at the last minute from boarding the Air India Express plane that crashed in Kerala, killing at least 18 people on board.

According to India's Civil Aviation Ministry, the Boeing 737 aircraft on a flight from Dubai to Kozhikode overshot the runway at Kozhikode airport on Friday evening. There were 184 passengers including 10 infants, 2 pilots and four cabin crew onboard the aircraft.

Noufal Moin Vetten, an Ajman resident working as an office boy in a Sharjah school, was booked to travel on the flight and had checked in as per schedule.

Recounting his miraculous escape, Vetten, a resident of Malappuram, Thirunavaya, whose visa was cancelled a week ago, told Gulf News: “I was handed my boarding pass, but when I reached immigration, they told me I had to pay a fine of Dh 1,000 (Rs 20,430) for overstay. I had only Dh 500 (Rs10,215) with me.

"I called my school PRO and he told me to come back. He said they would follow protocols and pay the fines before sending me,“ he said.

Vetten was disappointed and called his family to let them know.

“When I heard about the crash, I was saddened for all the passengers. But I'm so relieved I missed it. God has been really merciful,” said Vetten.

Afsal Parrakodan, a resident of Abu Dhabi, had a similar stroke of luck.

“My work visa was cancelled about a week ago. After getting my boarding pass, I was told I had to pay a fine of Dh1,000 at the immigration counter, but I had only Dh500 on me.”

“I was very keen to board the flight and be with my family. So I called a friend who brought me the additional Dh500, but by then, my baggage had been offloaded and the flight's doors were closed,” said Parrakodan.

“I was feeling very sad and called my mother to tell her I had missed the flight. But a few hours later, when I learnt of the crash, I couldn’t help but feel relieved and thankful to God for saving my life,“ said an overwhelmed Parrakodan who plans to fly back next week. 

Dubai, Aug 7: ‘Nama Tuluve’ Purushotham Salian, a staunch stalwart who always supported humanity and a strong pillar for Tuluvas in Dubai, passed away August, 4 at Al Tawam Hospital Al Ain. He was suffering from cancer and was admitted to Al Tawam Hospital Al Ain some time ago. He was on the last stage of illness which was not detected earlier.

His funeral last rites were conducted on Thursday August 7 at Jebel Ali cemetery in Hindu rites with a few of his family members present. Due to Covid pandemic, neither his body was able to be flown back to hometown nor could his two children come down to attend the funeral. However, it was said that his wish was to be cremated here in Dubai which unknowingly sometime back he whispered to one of his friends.

Purushotham had few years ago, survived a heart attack and fought back his life, though it had a minor paralytic effect on him. Even though, till recently he used to do his day-to-day work normally. He was a hard working personality and owned a readymade garment shop in Ajman and Dubai mostly taking care of clients with requirement of uniforms and coveralls. His dedication towards work was always appreciated by his clients who used to get their things delivered on time always.

He was never a publicity person and was helping the poor and needy in whatever ways he could silently. He strongly supported the community and was associated with Nama Tuluveru and Billawa community with commitment. He used to voluntarily come forward for the ground work of various functions of the community and used to be there until it was done perfectly.