Mangaluru: It was eight-years-ago that the city of Mangaluru witnessed one of the goriest catastrophic episodes of its history- the Mangaluru air crash.
The incident had claimed the lives of 158 people, including small children when an Air India Express flight coming in from Dubai, crash landed in the Mangalore International Airport on May 22, 2010.
The horrific incident plagued the minds and atmosphere of the city for months and remains fresh in the memories of those who lost loved ones in the crash.
A Tombstone carrying the names of the victims was planted at the site of the crash soon after the horrific incident. But, since the accident site at Kenjar belonged to an individual and with a section even objecting to the building of the memorial at the spot, the project was delayed.
Many were of the opinion that the district administration could purchase the land from the owner and go head with the plan. However, the district administration refused to accept any of these suggestions and went ahead with selecting a piece of land in Tannirbavi for the memorial. This was the spot where the unidentified and unclaimed bodies of the victims were cremated. The memorial of 90 cents was developed jointly by the Airports Authority of India and the New Mangaore Port Trust at a cost of Rs 30 lac.
Although the main structure of the memorial was completed long ago, minor works remained pending. These minor works have now been completed and on this day, May 22, 2018 – the eighth anniversary of the crash – a small memorial service was held at the memorial in Tannirbhavi, just as the district administration has been doing every year for the last few years.
