35 athletes at SAI Bengaluru isolated after testing COVID-19 positive, doctors' panel formed
Bengaluru, Jan 7: Thirty-five junior athletes at the Sports Authority of India's Bengaluru facility, who are participating in various national events, have tested positive for COVID-19, sources in the SAI said.
The revelation prompted the SAI Bengaluru to set up a committee of doctors to conduct tests and ensure the standard operating procedure (SOP) is followed on the campus.
The solace for the SAI is that none of the players preparing for the international events such as Commonwealth and Asian Games have contracted the disease, they added.
"The SAI had conducted random tests on 210 people comprising 175 athletes and 35 coaches. Of them, 35 have tested positive," a source told PTI on condition of anonymity.
She added that among the infected persons, 31 are asymptomatic while the four had mild symptoms. "All of them have been isolated. However, they did not require hospitalisation," she said.
The infected athletes were detected after a few showed mild symptoms compelling the authorities to conduct a random test.
It was also decided by the SAI that those players who did not contract the disease will be allowed to participate in the national-level event, another source said.
However, those players will undergo tests on arrival and will be allowed to mingle with other players only if their test reports come negative.
He also said the panel constituted by SAI on Thursday has Dr Monika Ghuge, Dr Rashid, Dr Ameya and physiotherapist Dr Ranganathan.
The committee will closely monitor the implementation of SOPs, quarantine norms, isolation facilities and suggest measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.
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Ahmedabad plane crash: Six months on, college hostel lies in ruins, sans bustle of students
Ahmedabad (PTI): Six months after the AI-171 plane crash, the B J Medical College hostel complex in Ahmedabad stands as a haunting reminder, with its charred walls and burnt trees replacing the once lively chatter of students with an eerie stillness.
Scattered across the crash site are grim remnants of daily life - burnt cars and motorcycles, twisted beds and furniture, charred books, clothes and personal belongings.
The Atulyam-4 hostel building and the adjoining canteen complex stand abandoned, with entry strictly prohibited.
For residents near the site, memories of the incident still linger, casting a lasting shadow on their lives, with some of them saying they are still afraid to look up at the sky when an aircraft passes overhead.
On June 12, Air India flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 persons.
The aircraft slammed into the BJ Medical College hostel complex in Meghaninagar, turning a lively student neighbourhood into a landscape of ruin and grief.
"The area now lies very silent, only a few birds chirp here," Sanjaybhai, a security guard deployed at the premises by authorities to prevent trespassing, told PTI.
Mahendrasingh Jadeja, a general store owner whose shop is just 50 metres from the point where the aircraft struck, described it as an unimaginable calamity. "In all my years, I have never seen anything like this."
Pointing to a tree behind his shop, the 60-year-old said the aircraft first struck there before crashing into the hostel building.
"It was a scorching summer afternoon. Not many people were outside. When I heard a loud crashing sound, I ran out of my shop. We were all terrified," he recalled.
"Even today, we instinctively look up whenever a plane passes overhead," he added.
Another local, Manubhai Rajput, who lives barely 200 metres from the site, said he witnessed the horror unfold on June 12.
"The plane was flying unusually low. Before I could understand what was happening, there was thick black smoke and a deafening crash," he said.
For over three decades, Rajput and his neighbours lived close to the airport without giving much thought to the aircraft overhead.
"We never looked up at the sky. But that day is etched in my mind. The plane hit a tree first, and then there was a loud sound," he said.
Rajput recalled how hundreds of locals rushed to the site even before police, fire services or the Army arrived.
Tinaben, another resident of Meghaninagar, said she never imagined something like this could happen in Ahmedabad.
"Despite being close to the airport, this area always felt safe," she said.
As an aircraft roared overhead during the conversation, Tinaben paused, looked up nervously and said, "It's still scary."
A senior official of Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state government has yet to decide what to do with the damaged site.
Currently, investigations are going on and the site is strictly prohibited for people, he added.
