Lone Canadian killed in Ahmedabad plane crash was Indian-origin dentist

Air India Ahmedabad-London flight crash site in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on June 13, 2025. Photo: Vijay Soneji/The Hindu.

Indian-origin dentist Nirali Patel was the lone Canadian citizen killed in the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad, a media report said.

Nirali Patel, 32, who lived in Etobicoke, Toronto, was travelling back to Canada from a “social trip” in India when the unfortunate accident happened, CTV News Toronto reported on Thursday (June 12, 2025).

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Ms. Nirali’s husband is planning to travel to India along with their one-year-old child, it added.

A London-bound Air India plane carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed in a residential area in Ahmedabad minutes after taking off on Thursday (June 12, 2025), killing 241 on board in one of India’s worst air disasters.

There were 169 Indians, 53 British, one Canadian and seven Portuguese nationals onboard, apart from 12 crew members. One person survived the tragedy.

“It’s absolutely shocking. There are no words in this grievance,” community leader Don Patel, who knows the family, told CTV News.

Ms. Nirali was visiting India for four or five days. Her parents, brother and sister-in-law live in Brampton, Mr. Patel said, adding when he spoke to her brother “very briefly” soon after the news broke out, “he was in shock and wasn’t able to talk much.”

Mr. Don Patel worked at a Mississauga dental clinic and got her dental degree in India in 2016 followed by receiving her licence in Canada in 2019, the report added.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford offered his condolences on Mr. Don Patel’s demise in the tragic crash.

“I’m saddened to learn that a Canadian from Mississauga, Ontario was among those lost in the tragic Air India crash near Ahmedabad. On behalf of the people of Ontario, I extend my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of every victim,” Mr. Ford posted on X on Thursday (June 12, 2025).

Earlier, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “devastated” to learn about the crash that had one Canadian national among those on board.

“My thoughts are with the loved ones of everyone on board. Canada’s transportation officials are in close contact with counterparts and I am receiving regular updates as the response to this tragedy unfolds,” he said on X.

Foreign Minister Anita Anand also called the “distressing news” as devastating.”

“Canada is in close contact with our international partners. My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those who have been lost in this tragedy,” she said in a post on X.

Published - June 13, 2025 02:21 pm IST