It wasn’t a normal Friday for anyone from Kerala. It was scary, tragic, and sad. The crash landing of Air India Express Flight IX 1344 at the Kozhikode airport came as a shock to all of us. Many of us, who watched the news in dismay, could not sleep last night without worrying about the lives that were at risk. It definitely was a day to mourn. But, what we truly are proud of is the way people went out of the way to lend a hand.
Local Rescuers
Before officials could arrive on the scene, the locals turned into first-responders and came to rescue the passengers. Despite the risk of a blast and of COVID-19, their only motive was to save as many lives as possible. All the airport prepaid taxis rushed people to the hospitals. In fact, even the locals came with their vehicles to take the victims to the nearest hospitals asap.
Kerala’s CM, Pinarayi Vijayan even tweeted:
Blood Donation
One of the main requirements for the injured was blood, especially of rare blood groups. Despite heavy rain and the threat of COVID-19, people queued up outside blood banks in hospitals in Kozhikode to donate blood. Hospital staff mentioned that citizens were coming in till 2 AM, and waited patiently while maintaining social distancing and following other COVID protocol.
Food Distribution
Following the crash, all the flights that were to land in Karipur were diverted to the Kannur airport. Since the flights were rerouted, they were due to land at odd hours. In light of this, various volunteers at Kannur were seen preparing food packages for passengers arriving on these flights.
What happened was extremely tragic, but seeing the way fellow Malayalis went above and beyond to help is nothing short of inspiring. May this be a lesson to many. #ProudMalayali
