MISSING

Filmmaker Suspected to Be Ground Victim of Air India Crash

The last known location of Mahesh Kalawadia was less than half a mile from the Air India Flight 171 crash site.

Mahesh Kalawadia, 34, has been missing since Air India Flight 171 crashed in the city of Ahmedabad last Thursday after less than 40 seconds in flight, according to The Indian Express. The ongoing investigation has revealed that the last known location of Kalawadia’s phone was approximately 2,300 feet from the Meghani Nagar hostel, where the flight crashed. Kalawadia’s wife, Hetal, was on the phone with her husband just 30 minutes before the crash, BBC reports. During the call, the victim told his wife he was heading back home from a meeting he had taken in an Ahmedabad park. The family reported to The Indian Express that they have submitted Kalawadia’s DNA samples to authorities to check against DNA from the remains of the ground victims of the plane crash. According to AP News, the total death count of the plane failure has climbed to 270 from the 241 known deaths of the passengers onboard, save the one survivor onboard, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.