Air India crash victims' family feel 'utterly abandoned'
The family of three Britons who died in the Air India plane crash are calling on the UK government to provide more support in India.Akeel Nanabawa, Hannaa Vorajee and Sara Nanabawa, aged four, were returning home to Gloucester when their plane ploughed into a residential area on Thursday.Akeel's brother, Hamzah, said they are yet to receive his body despite giving DNA and waiting three days with no further update. A family spokesperson added: "We're not asking for miracles – we're asking for presence, for compassion, for action. Right now, we feel utterly abandoned."A Foreign Office spokesperson said there is an advice helpline and a support centre has been set up near the airport.
The plane was carrying 242 people when it crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport, in western India, including 53 Britons.The sole surviving passenger was Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.Mr Nanabawa said: "I need the UK government to come out by themselves, if they've given up all this big talk over in the UK, come out here and help."He added there is no UK leadership in India, no medical team and no crisis professionals stationed at the hospital.
"No one from UK has even reached out to me, my family, to my sister in law's family. Nobody has. So you're saying no one from the foreign office in the UK or here reached out to us at all, nobody," Mr Nanabawa said."They haven't done anything for us [or] what we wanted. You have to understand, this is the highest, highest incident in the UK's history of 53 lives, and we are now on day four."He added: "All I want is you guys to come and help and help my brother, my sister in law, my niece and all the other 53 people that were on that plane. "Come and help them, please. Because they are grieving. They are hurt. They haven't got anybody. They [haven't got any] structure, no structure at all."UK air accident investigators are already in India and are assisting the Indian authorities, and UK forensic experts are there to support, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.She added: "Our staff continue to work around the clock in the UK and India to support the families and loved ones of all those impacted by the crash."We have set up a Reception Centre at the Ummed Hotel, near the Ahmedabad airport, and have a dedicated helpline to provide support and advice for the families and friends of British nationals - friends or family should call 020 7008 5000."If you are in India, you should call +91 (11) 24192100 for support, including through in-person consular staff who are available to support families of British nationals, including accompanying them to the hospital."
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Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill said that it is now time for all those involved to sit around the table and find a way to start and complete the project. Irish premier Micheal Martin said the opportunity to build the stadium should 'be seized', while deputy premier Simon Harris warned against looking back to see that the moment was 'squandered'. Earlier this month, a UK Government pledge of £50 million for the development of the west Belfast GAA stadium was included in Chancellor Rachel Reeves' spending review. However, that pledge still leaves the project far from its funding target under current plans. Plans for a 34,000-capacity stadium at the site have been mired in uncertainty because of a major funding gap. Stormont ministers committed £62.5 million to Casement in 2011, as part of a strategy to revamp it along with football's Windsor Park and the rugby ground at Ravenhill. While the two other Belfast-based projects went ahead, the redevelopment of Casement was delayed for several years because of legal challenges by local residents. The estimated cost spiralled in the interim. Speaking at a meeting of the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) in Armagh, Ms O'Neill said it is time for all partners to 'find a way to complete' Casement Park. Ms O'Neill said: 'We all have a role in making sure we get to that point.' Asked if the GAA should reconsider the plans for the west Belfast stadium development based on existing commitments for funding, Ms O'Neill said the stadium is now more expensive than if it had been built 'a long time ago'. She said the delays were due to a 'whole plague of problems' including planning and political issues. She said the redevelopment would bring 'major social and economic benefits'. Ms O'Neill added that Casement Park is an Executive flagship project. 'We now know what the pot of funding that we have on the table, but now it's time for all partners involved to get together and sit around the table and find a way now to complete and start the work on the project and to complete the project,' she added. 'I think we all have a role to play in terms of making sure we get to that point. 'But I think it's now time that we now know and understand the quantum of funding, that we now sit down together and actually work out the next step.' Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said it is 'now over to the GAA' to set out their expectations on their own contribution to the west Belfast stadium and any potential revisions to the development. She said there was a 'significant amount of need' in other sporting areas across the region with other facilities also needing to be upgraded. She added: 'We need to do so with fairness and equity. 'They are sitting on, I think, approximately £161 or £162 million worth of public spending. 'It's now over to the GAA to decide can they cut their coat according to their cloth, or what their expectations are in relation to their own contribution.' She added that the GAA can 'do a huge amount' with existing funding commitments for Casement Park, and that the GAA should indicate what its contribution increase should be. Mr Martin said the Irish Government had given a 'very substantial' allocation to the project. 'I believe the prospect really exists for a stadium to be agreed and built and this is an opportunity that should be seized in a practical and realistic way.' Mr Harris said the recent UK funding announcement was a 'huge step forward' for the project. He said the Irish Government stands ready to assist the project and warned against looking back to see that the moment was 'squandered'.
