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SA crash: Relatives lose hope

Some family members of 11 Indian passengers have almost lost hope about the survival of their dear ones. They seem to be reconciled to the fact that Air-India and Singapore Airlines are reluctant to tell them the "truth" about the slim survival chances of their kin.

Worried is the family of California-based software engineer Volam Janardhan (31) who was returning to Los Angeles with his wife Vuppala Neelima (25) and nine-month-old son Akash by Singapore Airlines flight SQ006 that crashed at Taipei.

Janardhan and Neelima married four years ago and had been living in Los Angeles since 1998. Neelima's parents Vuppala Chandrasekhar and Rajeshwari had been to the US this year, to bring with them their daughter and her new-born Akash. They returned in August.

Janardhan joined them in the first week of October.

Chandrasekhar recalled that his daughter and son-in-law celebrated Diwali at their residence in Suryapet. In fact, Janardhan told him that he wanted to return to India in five years. Neelima also told her father that she would bring Akash again next year, as the family was very attached to the infant. Janardhan's family performed the mundan ceremony of Akash at Vemulavada temple last week. Janardhan hails from Kesamudram in Warangal district.

Suvarna, his mother, is worried about his safety.

Three members of another family on board the fateful flight are Mohammed Moinuddin Khan (79), his wife Noorjahan Begum (70) and their daughter Rabia Ali Niazee. The couple was going to the United States for treatment.

They were to leave by KLM Airlines on September 6 but Begum suffered a paralytic stroke, forcing them to reschedule their visit.

Niazee, their eldest daughter and a doctor by profession, lives in Los Angeles. She had come a month back to Hyderabad to take her parents with her. Moinuddin and Noorjahan stayed at Himayatnagar in the city, with their youngest daughter Parveen. The couple has two sons and four daughters. The sons are working in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and Atlanta (US), whereas three daughters, including Rabia, are settled in the US for 20 years.

Four members of Col S L Reddy's family also travelled by the plane. They were Reddy's son-in-law Kommera Srinivas (36), based at Los Angeles since 1982, daughter Sangeeta (32), a dentist, and grandchildren Kommera Sneha and Sahil.

Srinivas and Sangeeta married eight years ago. They came to stay with Col Reddy's family at Santoshnagar in the city for a month.

ALSO SEE
Singapore Airlines faces wrath on crash disclosure
Taiwan plane crash toll rises to 81
10 more will fly to Taipei from Hyderabad

EARLIER REPORTS
70 killed in Taipei crash
12 booked from Hyderabad
Relatives of air crash victims leave for Taipei

EXTERNAL LINKS
'I can't believe they tried to take off'
'Deeply shocked, saddened'

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