Ahmedabad Plane Crash: London Man Who Came To India To Immerse Wife's Ashes Among The Dead

Last Updated:June 13, 2025, 14:01 IST

After immersing his wife's ashes in Gujarat, Arjunbhai Patoliya died in the Ahmedabad plane crash on Thursday, leaving their two young daughters behind in London

Arjunbhai Manubhai Patoliya had arrived in Gujarat just days ago after his wife, Bharatiben, passed away in London merely a week earlier. (News18 Hindi)

In the wake of the devastating Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, harrowing personal stories are surfacing, each more heartbreaking than the last. Among them is a tragedy that reads almost like a cruel twist of fate; a man who had flown from London to Ahmedabad to fulfill his late wife’s last wish has now died in the plane crash, leaving behind two orphaned young daughters back in London.

Arjunbhai Manubhai Patoliya, a native of Wadia village in Gujarat’s Amreli district and a resident of London, had arrived in Ahmedabad just days ago. His wife, Bharatiben, passed away in London merely a week earlier. Her final wish was that her ashes be immersed in the waters of her ancestral village. Arjun came alone to India, leaving behind their two daughters – aged merely 8 and 4 – in London, so that he could personally carry out her final rites.

According to family sources, after performing the religious rituals and immersing his wife’s ashes in a village pond and river as per her wish, Arjun boarded the ill-fated Air India flight to return to London. But fate had other plans. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, claiming his life along with hundreds of others.

Back in London, two little girls waited for their father, unaware that they had already lost both parents within the span of a week. With no immediate guardian present, their future now hangs in uncertainty.

In Amreli, the news of Arjunbhai’s death has left his extended family and community members stunned and grief-stricken. Mourning has spread across Wadia village where just days earlier, villagers had gathered to witness the immersion of Bharatiben’s ashes.

Arjunbhai’s father had passed away earlier, and his elderly mother, who lives in Surat, is reportedly in deep shock and unable to travel. The question tormenting everyone now is, who will perform Arjun’s last rites, and who will care for his daughters in London?

The dual tragedy – a couple lost within days, and two small children left behind – is being described as one of the most emotionally wrenching stories to emerge from the Ahmedabad plane crash.

Location :

Amreli | Ahmedabad, India

First Published:

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