Bengaluru, June 13 (IANS) Friends of Prateek Joshi, who, along with his wife and three children, passed away in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, expressed grief over the tragedy and recalled the good times spent with him in Karnataka’s Belagavi.

Joshi’s classmates remembered him as a jovial, happy person who was liked by all his batchmates.

Prateek, who hailed from Rajasthan, completed his MBBS at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) in Belagavi.

Prashanth Basutkar, currently living in Yadgir, stated, “Prateek was my classmate. We were very close; he was my benchmate and tablemate. We studied together for five years and received our postings at the same time.”

“I used to help Prateek, and he also helped me in return. He was a gem, a very humble and noble person. Unfortunately, it all ended with the flight accident. The photo of all five of them, which they shared from onboard the aircraft, is truly moving. Prateek had already been working in the UK for five years as a Radiologist. His wife worked in Udaipur,” Basutkar added.

He further added, “Prateek wanted to settle in the UK with his family. It seems he had also bought a house in London. The whole family wanted to settle in London. I can’t express it in words. We suffer so much even from small fire injuries, and they were burned alive. What must have been the plight of those small children? They were very young.”

Another classmate of Prateek said, “It’s difficult to imagine their plight now, those small children. We felt very saddened that this happened to one of our classmates. His whole family is gone, and I pray to God to give strength to his parents to withstand the grief.”

“Prateek was in touch, and common friends were all in a WhatsApp group. He was a jovial and kind-natured person, liked by all his batchmates. What has happened is very tragic. We were planning a 25th-year reunion programme in September and were expecting him to join us, but that won’t happen now,” another classmate of the deceased doctor said.

“It’s a sad feeling everyone is going through right now. We can’t believe this happened. We have to come to terms with reality. It’s tragic and unfortunate that Prateek’s life ended like this. His whole family passed away. Those on the plane must have had many plans for their future, and it was tragic to see their lives end this way,” she claimed.

JNMC College Principal N. S. Mahantshetti said that the tragedy was unfortunate.

Prateek studied MBBS at JNMC between 2000 and 2005. Afterwards, he completed his radiology specialisation from Kolar Medical College.

Prateek had come to Udaipur to take his family to London.

Prateek was travelling with his wife Komi Vyas, eight-year-old daughter Miraya and five-year-old twin sons Nakul and Pradyut when the tragedy struck.

–IANS

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