Quarantined youngsters, the 1st responders at Air India Express crash site, raise tricolour
Malappuram: Eight quarantined youngsters, who were among the first responders to reach the Air India Express crash site here and help evacuate passengers, did not let their seclusion come in the way of hoisting the tricolour on Independence day at one of their homes on Saturday.
A video of the youngsters, all quarantined at one of their homes, saluting the national flag hoisted in a makeshift flag post, has gone viral.
"As far as we know, this is the day when we get to hoist our national flag and salute it without any protocol issues. We didn't want to miss the opportunity even though we are under quarantine," Fazal, one of the members, told PTI.
They were the initial responders when the AIE flight veered off the tabletop runway and broke into pieces on August 7, killing 18, including the pilot and the co-pilot.
"We are staying under quarantine for last eight days. This is the house of one of our friends, who is also with us. We shifted his family to another place and decided to stay here," Fazal said.
Junaid, Naushad, Harris, Hareendran, Younis, Sajith and another person named Fazal, who is the house owner, are among the group who have been quarantined as per the order of the district authorities.
The youngsters, who all stay around the airport region, had rushed to the accident spot unmindful of heavy rains and COVID-19 fears and took the injured to various hospitals, thus saving many lives, drawing praise from various quarters, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The airport area is a containment zone. The Malappuram Collector, Deputy Collector, assistant collector and the district police chief, who all were part of the rescue operations, tested positive on Friday.
"We have given our swabs for testing and are awaiting the results," Fazal, who runs an export-import business at Malappuram, said.
The same group were in the news recently when a senior civil police officer of the control room here had saluted them for participating in the rescue operations.
A photograph of the police officer's gesture had gone viral in social media.
A top police official had said there was no protocol as to who all a policeman can and cannot salute, and hence his cannot be regarded as illegal.
Many netizens also had come out in support of the policeman. Those involved in the rescue work after the AIE flight from Dubai with 190 people on board crashed at Karipur airport here were advised to go on quarantine after samples of one of the passengers who died tested positive for COVID-19.
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Seven killed as govt hospital’s compound wall collapse due to rain
Bengaluru (PTI): Seven people, including three children, were killed when the compound wall of a hospital collapsed here on Wednesday, police said.
The incident occurred in the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, they added.
When the heavy rains, coupled with strong winds, battered the area, the seven victims were taking shelter near the wall, which suddenly came down crashing, police further said. All seven people were killed on the spot, they added.
According to police sources, the victims were street vendors.
Police and emergency services personnel rushed to the spot with an earthmover to bring out the bodies from the debris with the help of residents.
