Imtiaz Ali Syed is holding out for a miracle.

His brother, Javed Ali Syed, was flying home to London. But the Boeing 787 Dreamliner carrying him, his wife Mariam, and their two young children — Zayn and Amani — fell out of the sky just 30 seconds after take-off.

Imtiaz Ali Syed wants to believe his brother survived the plane crash. (ABC News: Bhat Burhan)

Flight AI171 was headed from Ahmedabad, a city in western India, to London Gatwick Airport when it crashed into one of BJ Medical College’s hostels, erupting into flames and killing 241 of the 242 people on board.

Miraculously, one British passenger was able to hobble away from the flaming debris. Injured, but alive.

It is one of the deadliest aviation disasters the world has seen in decades.

“I still haven’t lost hope,” Imtiaz says.

“Maybe one, two, three months or a year later, maybe he will come back and say, ‘I was somewhere else and no-one saw me.'”

Imtiaz Ali Syed with his mother and brother Javed. Javed and his family were on Flight AI171. (Supplied)

When the news broke, Imtiaz convinced himself there had been a mistake. Perhaps the flight number was different. Perhaps his brother had missed the plane.

“I told my sister it couldn’t be the same one,” he says.

Then came an unverified list circulating online, claiming to show survivors. Javed’s name was on it. For a brief moment, Imtiaz felt relief.

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The moment an Air India plane crashes in Ahmedabad.

An hour later the same list was released — the same names, but now they were said to be deceased.

Imtiaz still hasn’t told his mother. Javed had brought his family to India from the UK for Eid and to care for her in Mumbai after a heart attack.

“I know that if she hears about this, I will have to bear another tragedy,” Imtiaz says.

Everything incinerated

Family members of the victims have been giving samples at this DNA centre. (ABC News: Bhat Burhan)

In the hours after the crash, families began lining up at a temporary forensic collection unit on the medical college campus, offering DNA samples to help identify their loved ones.

Days later, families are still waiting. For names. For remains. For clarity in a tragedy so total it has reduced bodies to fragments, and lives to waiting lists outside morgues.

The plane had 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian onboard.

It was carrying more than 125,000 litres of fuel. Investigators say the explosion on impact was so powerful it incinerated everything in its path and will make identification a mammoth task.

The tail of the Air India plane on a building in Ahmedabad. (Reuters: Amit Dave )

As of Monday, 125 victims had been identified through DNA testing and 83 bodies were released to their families.

‘Everything was on fire’

For those who were not on the flight but on the ground when it crashed, the situation is even more agonising. With no manifest to work from, they are simply listed as missing.

Among them is Sarla Ben Thakor, a cook at the college hostel, and her two-year-old granddaughter, Aadhya.

Prahlad Thakor wants to look for his wife and grandchild at the crash site, but is not allowed to enter. (ABC News: Bhat Burhan)

Sarla Ben’s husband, Prahlad Thakor, was just a few minutes away when the plane tore through the building.

“Everything was on fire, there was smoke everywhere,” he told 7.30.

Sarla Ben Thakor was working at the college hostel when the plane crashed into it. (Supplied)

“We were dousing the fire with a hose. There was nothing visible. The heat was too much, my eyes started burning so [I] came out.”

He and Sarla Ben had worked at the hostel for over a decade, feeding generations of medical students.

Their grandchildren, Aadhya and Madhav, often came along to escape the heat. That day, Madhav had gone outside to play. Aadhya stayed behind with her grandmother.

Since the crash, Prahlad has been walking a punishing circuit between the crash site and the mortuary, searching for answers.

Prahlad Thakor waits outside the mortuary for news. (ABC News: Bhat Burhan)

Despite the heat and the overwhelming stench of death, he’s been begging authorities to let him back into the site, convinced he might recognise something.

“I have to look for her. My wife might have fallen. Something may have hit her head. I must look for her,” he says.

Prahlad Thakor holds a photo of his wife Sarala Ben and granddaughter Aadhya. (ABC News: Bhat Burhan)

He’s been turned away each time.

“I’m the one who will recognise my wife and granddaughter. How can we know unless I go inside to search?”

“I am in pain, all I have is my son and wife.”

‘It’s all gone’

Ojas Pandya was on his way to the college canteen when the plane crashed. (ABC News: Bhat Burhan)

For many families, the grief lies in what they lost.

For others, the pain comes from what they saw and somehow survived.

Ojas Pandya was heading into the canteen for lunch when the plane came down.

“There was a boom and fire, and the smoke was so intense that we were not able to see anything. There was a burst of dirt and … I thought that at first it might be an earthquake,” he said.

The 22-year-old intern doctor lost four friends. And Sarla Ben, the cook he’d seen every day.

“It is actually very much overwhelming, you know, because at this moment I hear ambulance sirens in my ears, ringing.”

Buildings left charred after the plane crash. (ABC News: Bhat Burhan)

India is leading the investigation into what went wrong, with support from US and UK agencies, reportedly focusing on the plane’s engine, flaps and landing gear.

The nation’s aviation regulator has also ordered urgent safety checks of Air India’s entire Boeing-787 fleet.

The black box has been recovered, but it could take days to retrieve and analyse the data.

Air India’s parent company, the Tata Group, has announced $180,000 in compensation per victim.

But families say they also want accountability.

“This is a mistake. It is negligence. I do not consider it an accident,” Imtiaz says.

“Only those who are going through this can understand it. My brother’s entire lineage has ended. So many people were connected with them. It’s all gone. In a matter of 30 seconds. Just 30 seconds.”