A 70-year-old man from India who was presumed dead after the Indian Airlines plane crashed in Mumbai back in 1976 returned home in Kollam last week, 31 July, after 45 years.
The sweet homecoming of the man, Sajjad Thangal, was a rollercoaster of emotions as his 91-year-old mother waited for his arrival with sweets, ready for her son to come home into her arms.
Upon his arrival, the both of them hugged and cried as other villagers and local leaders graced the occasion, as reported by Hindustan Times.
The plane crash claimed 95 lives
Thangal’s life took a massive turn after the 1976 plane crash in Mumbai, which claimed 95 lives. It was reported that Thangal had to conduct cultural programmes in Gulf countries and was invited to one of such programmes in Abu Dhabi that year.
“He was planning to return with the troupe from Abu Dhabi on 12 October 1976. But due to some last-minute hitches with the organising committee he dropped his plan and survived the crash,” said Father K M Philip, founder of the Social and Evangelical Association for Love, an NGO in Navi Mumbai.
Philip explained that after the tragedy, Thangal suffered a series of post-trauma bouts after losing some of his friends and business associates.
“Those days insurance was not popular, and I lost a good amount of money. I was also scared that police will hound me. Almost everyone thought I was among the dead in the crash. I started living in Mumbai doing odd jobs,” Thangal said.
He was later shifted to the shelter home of the NGO and was undergoing treatment for mental ailments.
Philip described Thangal as an introverted person most of the time started reeling out his story to one of the counsellors after a long time. Later the NGO started to make inquiries and found out that his 91-year-old mother, Fathima Beevi, was alive.
They later spoke to each other over the phone, and he was brought to his ancestral home in Sathamkotta on 31 July.
According to Hindustan Times, Thangal’s relatives explained that they checked the passengers’ list repeatedly after the crash but failed to find his name. As there was no other information after the incident, he was presumed dead. It has also been reported that they did in fact made other initial inquiries but eventually gave up.
Thangal, who soon discovered that he has two brothers and three sisters said, “it is a dream come true for me. I never thought I would be able to meet my kin, especially my mother.”
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