Kerala plane crash: Deceased passenger tests positive for COVID-19

A deceased passenger named Sudheer Varyath (45) tested positive for coronavirus even as all involved in rescue operations are undergoing COVID-19 tests  

Kozhikode: One of the 18 passengers, who died when an Air India Express flight from Dubai crashed landed at the airport here, has tested positive for COVID-19.

Higher education minister K T Jaleel told the media that samples of the passenger, Sudheer Varyath (45), were sent for testing and it has returned positive for the disease.

State health minister KK Shailaja has asked all the people who were engaged in the rescue operations to report to the health authorities and go on self-quarantine as a precautionary measure and get themselves tested.

The flight with 190 passengers and crew on board had overshot the runway here while landing on Friday night and fell into a valley about 35 feet below and broke into two portions. As many as 19 people were killed in the Air India Express flight crash at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport on Friday after the plane skidded off the runway and fell into a 35-feet valley before splitting, local media reported on Saturday.

Of the total, 17 persons who were killed in the crash have been identified, Malappuram District Collector K Gopalakrishnan told reporters.

The condition of 16 passengers, admitted to various hospitals, is serious, Malappuram collector K Gopalakrishnan said.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Civil Aviation Ministry senior officials, Airports Authority of India and Air Navigation Service members will today hold a meeting in Delhi over the crash landing of the Air India Express flight at Kozhikode on Friday.