Tragic day a town will now call 'Black Saturday'

Families and residents from Kasargod are distraught as news spreads that many of those who died were part of the local community.

Fahad Manayath holds a picture of Mohammed Abdullah, a crash victim and his fellow employee at Al Hugun Restaurant in Sharjah.

Kasargod, in the Indian border district between Karnataka and Kerala states, is a town in mourning. With more than 50 people from the area killed in the Air India Express IX812 crash on Saturday, families are distraught.

The grief is not limited to that region. Traders in Sharjah's Rolla Square market are reeling from the tragedy after losing workers in the crash. At least eight men from Kasargod employed in the market died in the accident, while others working there lost relatives, friends and family. "It was a black Saturday for us. That is how it will be remembered," said Mohammed Shammer, a salesman at a toy and clothes shop who lost roommate Mohammed Rafi, 22, in the crash.

"He had many dreams in life. His father was a fisherman but did not earn much. He was the sole bread winner for the family." The market has about two dozen shops including garment and toy stores and supermarkets. Hundreds of men from Kasargod work in the market and their wages help their families back home. As shops opened on Saturday morning, news started trickling in about the crash and the casualties, most of whom were passengers heading to Kasargod. Shock and gloom hit the market as news of the deaths of staff members came in one after the other. All were Keralites hailing from Kasargod.

Mohammed Abdullah, 60, who worked at the market's Hujoon Restaurant, was one of the oldest men on the ill-fated flight. He was going home to make arrangements for his daughter's wedding. Residents, colleagues and friends of Mr Abdullah came searching for him at the restaurant immediately after the news of the plane crash. Many there knew Mr Abdullah was returning to Kasargod after nearly a decade. He had walked into each shop and bade his friends farewell in the excitement of heading home.

"He was a man of huge responsibilities with a big family to support, but he was always cheerful and was well known in the market," said Fahad Manayath, a waiter at the Hujoon restaurant and a close friend of Mr Abdullah. "He was very happy that he had finally collected enough money for the wedding." Mustafa Abdullah, the oldest son of Mr Abdullah who was working as a salesman at a shop behind the restaurant, rushed to India as soon as he heard about his father's death.

"Mustafa could not reach [home] for his father's burial. They found the body and it was in such a bad shape that they had to bury it immediately," said Mr Manayath. Regular customers of the restaurant left candles for Mr Abdullah, who worked at the restaurant for 15 years, yesterday while others inquired about him. Shocked visitors were seen crying at the news of his death. In contrast to Mr Abdullah, who left behind a wife and six children, Mr Rafi was fired from his job as a salesman at the Al Kabayl discount centre after two years. His roommates showed pictures of him yesterday, wearing sunglasses and smiling along with a group of friends.

Staff at the Al Ameera supermarket, located in the same market, were informed through media channels about the death of their employee Balakrishnan Mullachery. The 48-year-old had rushed to the airport on Friday after being informed that his mother was sick. "He was a gentleman. He worked with us for more than 10 years and we would have never let him go," said Sukhdev Patidar, the owner of the supermarket.

"He asked for an emergency leave as his mother was seriously ill. It's only fate that he died on the way." Staff members yesterday held a vigil for Mr Mullachery and put up photos of him in the shop. A resident of Kasargod, Mr Mullachery had lots of friends in the market and a gloomy mood set in as reports of his death emerged on Saturday evening. "We called his home last night and they said they had found the body. It was burned beyond recognition, but they identified him using his ring and his physical structure," said V Prabhakar, his roommate, who also works in the supermarket.

Staff from Sahara Centre, Durrathul Khaleej and other shops in the market also reported cases of deaths of their staff and relatives of staff members. Anand Singh, the Kasargod district collector, who is in charge of the governance of a district within a state, said that 50 people were confirmed dead from his district. By yesterday afternoon 35 bodies had been identified and Mr Singh was at the mortuary assisting families who had yet to find their relatives with DNA testing.

"A lot of people from here are settled there, or have business interests [in the UAE]," he said. "A lot of people have family members living there." Mr Singh said he had visited 10 families affected by the disaster. The marriage season in southern India had coincided with the closing of schools for summer holidays, which had led to several families travelling together, he said. Sudhir Shetty, the chief operating officer of the money transfer firm UAE Exchange, whose family home is in Kasargod, said the lack of future monetary support from the crash victims will be felt by families, especially those whose relatives working in the Emirates were the sole earners.

"We need to find employment for their family members because often the sole source of income came from here," he said. Mr Shetty said that while the education of children or half-built homes could be completed with the monetary compensation families will receive from the government and Air India, it was the long-term sustainability of the community that would need focus. "In terms of education, standard of living, rate of literacy, compared to the other districts around it, it is quite high," said Mr Shetty. "So there were a lot of people here from that region."

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