Among the passengers of Air India Flight AI171 were Javed Ali Syed, his wife Maryam, and their two children, Amani and Zain, residents of Kensington in London. Javed had arrived in Malad East, Mumbai, on June 6 with his family to visit his ailing mother, who had recently suffered a heart attack. The family had come to celebrate Eid together, but tragically, this turned out to be Javed's last visit to his mother. The Syed family was devastated upon hearing the news of the crash. Javed's brother was in disbelief that his sibling’s entire family had perished in the accident.
Expressing his grief, Javed’s elder brother, Imtiaz Ali Syed, said, "Javed had returned to India after a long time, and we were all very happy to celebrate Eid together. We even went shopping. Just a day ago, they left to return to London. I don't know why they didn’t fly out from Mumbai — maybe he got cheaper tickets from Ahmedabad. But now, after this accident, I feel they should have flown from Mumbai."
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Upon hearing the news, Javed’s maternal uncle, Ayub Sheikh, rushed to Ahmedabad to retrieve the bodies of Javed and his family. He shared that Javed worked in hotel management in London and had married Maryam, a resident there. The couple had two children. Javed’s mother lives in Mumbai and had recently taken ill, prompting him to visit with his family. After doctors informed him that her treatment would take time, Javed had decided to return to London for now and come back on an extended leave for her care.
Ayub Sheikh said that as soon as they heard of the plane crash on Thursday, he immediately travelled to Ahmedabad. He has requested the authorities to allow him to identify the bodies. The administration has asked for a DNA sample, and Ayub stated that they have requested 72 hours to complete the process. A DNA sample has been collected from Javed’s elder brother. Only after a successful DNA match will the bodies be handed over to the family.