District administration to hold memorial service for victims of IX-812 air crash

MANGALURU: Dakshina Kannada district administration is all geared up to hold a solemn memorial service for victims of IX-812 air crash at a memorial at Kulur on Sunday. It was on May 22, 2010 that an Air India Express plane from Dubai overshot the table-top runway at Mangaluru International airport, plunged over a cliff into a wooded valley, killing 158 persons and eight survivors.There were 160 passengers and six crew members on board this ill-fated flight.
Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim said the administration has been holding a condolence meet every year to mark the anniversary of this crash. The move to hold the meet at a park where the bodies of 12 unidentified victims of the crash have been buried at Kulur was taken at the condolence meeting last year, he said, adding the park is being developed as a tribute to the victims of the incident. New Mangalore Port Trust is developing the park, he noted.
Noting that the park is in the final stages of development, Ibrahim said although the administration had urged the Airports Authority of India and Air India to set up a memorial at the park, they have not been forthcoming on this issue. The administration has requested Mangaluru City Corporation to set up the memorial, he said adding the civic body is expected to take a decision on this request shortly. An early memorial set up at the crash site at Kenjar was vandalized.
The park at Kuloor has been named '22/5 Park' to remember the month and date of the incident, the DC said, adding the administration has placed on record its gratitude to New Mangalore Port Trust authorities for its total support in constructing the park. "The work on the park will be completed in the next three months," Ibrahim said. The dozen bodies were interned at the park site after all attempts to identify them through string of tests proved inconclusive.