Standing outside the memorial of air crash victims, former Additional Deputy Commissioner S.A. Prabhakar Sharma cannot forget the days spent following the air crash that occurred here 11 years ago in which 158 persons died.
“Those images still come before me. Cannot forget the days following the tragedy,” said Mr. Sharma, who held the charge of Deputy Commissioner as V. Ponnuraj (presently Managing Director of Karnataka Power Corporation Limited) had gone abroad for training.
“It was around 6.10 a.m. that I got a call from the then Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa as I was proceeding to the spot following intimation of the accident by the airport authorities,” Mr. Sharma recalled before The Hindu.
Mr. Sharma, who is presently the Honorary Secretary of Indian Red Cross Society, Dakshina Kannada, was among the several persons who on Saturday paid homage at the air crash victims’ memorial built at the place where 12 unclaimed bodies of victims were buried. The memorial is part of the park maintained by the New Mangalore Port Trust.
Mr. Sharma said good number of people volunteered in lifting bodies, some of which were charred, that were in the midst of the mangled aircraft that had fallen in a gorge. The local people helped the district administration in lifting vehicles and make way for fire tenders and rescue staff reach the spot. “Local people played a big role in the rescue and relief operation,” he said.
The incident also revealed the resilience of personnel from different departments of the State government who worked tirelessly in the hour of crisis. “They kept their problems aside and wholeheartedly worked for long hours following the air crash,” he said.
District in-charge Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary, Member of Parliament and State BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel, Mangaluru City South MLA D. Vedavyas Kamath, Mayor Premanand Shetty, Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra, Mangaluru City Corporation Commissioner Akshy Sridhar and Coast Guard Karnataka Commander Babu Venkatesh paid homage to victims.
