Tadie Mra, 32, had a narrow escape when he abandoned his lunch to rush for an emergency call, and within “four minutes” the Boeing 787 8 Dreamliner crashed on his hostel mess building on the fateful afternoon of June 12 last year, killing 19 on the ground and 241 on board.
Tadie Mra, hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, has been to the crash site only twice since and is sceptical about government plans to build a PG hostel complex at the same place for medical students.
“I think that if they build a new (hostel) there, nobody will stay there. You just think, around 260 people have died there…I do not think anybody will stay there. Such a horrible (incident) happened. Nobody will stay there,” Tadie Mra, a final year PG student at Gujarat Cancer Research Institute from Arunachal Pradesh, told The Indian Express.
Speaking about the lesson learned from the incident, Mra said: “Time is very important. Even one minute is very precious. Because, it can save your life. My life has also been saved by four minutes. And secondly, I have realised that one should never be in stress. You never know when death or an accident can strike. It can come in any form. Therefore, one should never take stress. One should be happy in the present. We cannot bring back the past and we cannot predict the future. What we are living is present and it is very important.”
He suggests that instead of a hostel, an office could be built there. “I will not recommend making a hostel (there). Nobody will stay. It is such a haunted place (now)…As per human mindset, people will have fear…It will be better for office use, during day time. A hostel should not be built there. (It could be built) somewhere nearby. But to build a hostel at the same spot will not be proper. Nobody would (prefer to) stay there. They will be full of fear…This is my personal opinion,” Tadie, who is expected to become a cancer anesthesiologist, said.
On June 12, a Gatwick-bound Air India flight AI171 crashed within moments after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad. A total of 260 persons were killed in the crash as the plane crashed on the hostel building of BJ Medical College, Atulyam.
Recently, the Gujarat government had announced a Rs 105 crore hostel complex at the crash site as the Atulyam 1-4 buildings were severely damaged in the crash.
Tadie was in Room no 302 in the Atulyam-2 which is among those burnt down.
Fateful day
Recalling the day June 12, 2025, Tadie said that he was in the hospital in the morning with duty in the daycare surgery unit.
“At 1.10 pm, I went for lunch at the mess building. It was hotter than it is today. Then, I got a call from the CT Scan room to reach there since an urgent biopsy was to be done. But since some daal had spilled on my clothes, I went to my room (in Atulyam block) to change clothes. At that time, I also wanted to take a shower. But, because of paucity of time, I did not take a shower and immediately left for the hospital. Had I stayed to take a shower, I would not have survived. My entire room was finished. Family members of another doctor who was living in a room in front of mine had died in the crash,” Tadie said.
After leaving the hostel room, Tadie said that when he reached the 1200-bed hospital building in the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital Campus, he heard a loud sound.
“Somebody said that a gas cylinder had blasted…But then I came to know that the plane had crashed on Atulyam. From the distance, I could see huge smoke stacks coming out from that direction. Then a video came on a Whatsapp group of some of my senior doctors. I immediately went back to see my room and belongings. However, the police did not allow me to go inside. Fire officials were trying to douse the fire, but they were failing to do so. During this time, I saw bodies of many people burning at the site,” Tadie added.
He further said, “We deal with (serious) patients in ICUs and operation theaters daily, but this feeling (at the crash site) was horrible. I am scared of going there (even today)…After the incident, I have gone there only twice. Once, we were called to check our belongings. And then we were called to collect our belongings. After that, we have never gone there. Very frightening memories are there at that place. I don’t want to go there again. So many people died, we get nightmares looking at that building.”
Tadie, a native of Daporijo town in Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, said that he would have preferred to go to the crash site to pay homage to the deceased on June 12 (Friday). “But due to lots of workload at the hospital, I don’t think I will be able to go there.”
Tadie is fourth among the five children of a single mother.
After the plane crash that severely damaged their hostel building, Tadie and other doctors were provided alternate accommodation in the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital campus itself.
Recently, the Gujarat government had announced a Rs 105 crore hostel complex at the crash site as the Atulyam 1-4 buildings were severely damaged in the crash. (Express photo) 
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