TATA SONS has set up a £43 million charitable trust to help victims and families affected by the deadly Air India crash in Ahmedabad last month that claimed nearly 300 lives.
The AI-171 Memorial and Welfare Trust was formally registered in Mumbai on Friday (18), with Tata Sons and Tata Trusts each pledging Rs 250m (£21.5m) to the fund.
According to a statement, the trust will provide immediate and ongoing support to families of those who died, the lone survivor, and anyone else directly affected by the disaster. It will also help first responders, medical staff, disaster relief workers, and government officials who dealt with the aftermath of the crash.
Each family that lost a loved one will receive a payment of Rs 10m (£86,000) from the trust. The fund will also cover medical treatment for those seriously injured in the accident and support for the sole survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national who was seen walking away from the crash with bruises on his arms.
The trust plans to help rebuild the B.J. Medical College infrastructure, which was damaged when the Boeing 787-8 aircraft crashed into the medical college shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad bound for London on June 12. The 12-year-old aircraft carried 230 passengers and 12 crew.
The crash was one of India's worst aviation disasters. All but one of the 230 passengers and all 12 crew members died. On the ground, an additional 19 people were killed and 67 seriously injured. All flight operations at the airport were suspended before resuming later in the day in a limited capacity.
The trust will be run by a five-member board. The first two trustees appointed are S Padmanabhan, a former Tata executive, and Sidharth Sharma, who serves as general counsel for Tata Sons. Three more trustees will be named soon.
India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is investigating the crash with help from the US National Transportation Safety Board, and authorities have recovered the black box. The trust is expected to begin its work once it completes registration with tax authorities and other regulatory requirements.
