Tuesday 07 / May / 2024
Muscat: Two Indians killed in Saturday’s flydubai crash at Rostov-on-Don airport in Russia are identified as Shyam Mohan, 27, and his wife Anju Aiyappan of Ernakulam, 26, from the south Indian state of Kerala.
“We have lost two Indian nationals Shyam Mohan and his wife Anju Aiyappan of Ernakulam in the crash of flydubai flight in Russia,” Sushma Swaraj, the Indian minister for external affairs, tweeted on her official twitter handle.
All 62 people aboard the passenger jet flying from Dubai to southern Russia were killed when their plane crashed on its second attempt to land at Rostov-on-Don airport.
Russia's emergencies ministry said the aircraft, a Boeing (BA.N) 737-800 operated by Dubai-based budget carrier flydubai, crashed at 0340 (0040 GMT).
According to flydubai’s facebook post, there were 44 Russians, eight Ukrainians, two Indians and one Uzbek on board.
Meanwhile, family sources said Shyam and Anju were ayurveda therapists in Rostov.
Anju has been employed in Rostov for past four years. Shyam moved to Russia last year after he married Anju in November, 2014.
The couple had been in Kerala for last two months. They left for Russia on Thursday night from Kochi to Dubai, from where they boarded the ill-fated aircraft to Russia.
Shyam had talked to his parents from Dubai on Friday and had promised to call on reaching Rostov.
Sources said Shyam had been the lone bread winner of the family comprising father Mohan and mother Sheeja.
Mohan, a carpenter, is living in a small house erected on 10 cents of land in their village Vengola.
Although Shyam had moved to Russia soon after his marriage, he got the job of an ayurveda therapist only recently.
Both were working at the same spa as therapists. Anju also hailed from Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district.
The Investigative Committee of Russia said in a statement on its website, that the aircraft hit the ground and broke into pieces.
According to the independent US-based Flight Safety Foundation, there was strong wind at the airport with a speed of 43 kilometers per hour, with gusts up to 69 kilometers, but visibility was reasonable.
"Different versions of what happened are being looked into, including crew error, a technical failure and bad weather conditions," the committee said.
Flydubai's CEO Ghaith al-Ghaith told a news conference in the Gulf Arab emirate that it was "too early" to determine the cause of the crash.
"We will have information about the circumstances of the incident and the black box in the future, and an investigation is being conducted in cooperation with the Russian authorities and we are waiting to see the results," Ghaith said.
