Key Highlights

• Raju Patel found 70 tolas of gold at disaster site, returned it, aided injured with sheer courage.
• First responder’s valor shines amid tragedy—swift actions, honesty under pressure underscore importance of civilian heroism.

A plume of smoke rose above BJ Medical College on a sunny afternoon in June 2012. Flames licked the crumpled fuselage of a jumbojet. Screams pierced the air. Raju Patel, 56, did not pause to think. When the sky fell, he got up.

Only minutes away, the construction businessman raced to the AI 171 crash site with his crew, arriving within five minutes of impact. "For the first 15-20 minutes, we could hardly get close. "The fire was too intense," Patel explained. "But once the first fire brigade and 108 ambulances arrived, we jumped in to help."

With no stretchers available, they carried the injured on sarees and bedsheets. "We did what we could," he said. Authorities allowed Patel's team to remain on-site until 9 p.m.

As emergency services took over, Patel's team focused on what came next: combing the wreckage. Burned luggage was scattered across the charred grounds. They found 70 tolas (more than 800 grams) of gold jewellery, Rs 80,000 in cash, passports, and a Bhagawad Gita among the debris. All were turned over to the police.

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Harsh Sanghavi, Minister of State for Home, said on Sunday that all salvaged personal belongings are being documented and will be returned to the next of kin.

"I'm just grateful we could do something," said Patel, whose volunteer experience includes the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts. "I was only 100 metres from the civil hospital when a bomb went off. But the devastation here... the fires... "I'll never forget this," he concluded.