Nirali Sureshkumar Patel, Wife and Mother to 1-Year-Old Child, Named as Sole Canadian Killed in Air India Crash

NEED TO KNOW

• Dr. Nirali Sureshkumar Patel was identified as the only Canadian national on the Air India Boeing 787-8 that crashed in India
• The 32-year-old dentist was a wife and mother to a 1-year-old
• Of the 242 people onboard, including 12 crew members and 230 passengers, there was only one survivor — a British national of Indian origin

The only Canadian on board the Air India flight that killed all but one person has been identified. 

Dr. Nirali Sureshkumar Patel, a 32-year-old dentist from Mississauga, Ontario, was among the 241 victims aboard the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft. She is survived by her husband and their 1-year-old child, CTV News, National Post and CP 24 reported Thursday, June 12. 

The London-bound plane crashed in a residential area of India around 1:43 p.m. local time — just five minutes after taking off.

“It’s absolutely shocking. There’s no words in this grievance,” community leader Don Patel, told CTV News Toronto on Thursday. Don, who knew Nirali’s family, said she had been in India for four or five days before making her return to Etobicoke.

wreckage at the crash site of Air India Ltd. flight AI171 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, on Thursday, June 12, 2025.

Siddharaj Solanki/Bloomberg via Getty

“She was coming back. And we heard this tragic thing happened as soon as we wake up,” he said.

Her husband, who declined to share his name publicly, reportedly said, “That was my wife. I am not in a state to speak right now,” per the National Post.

He and the child are reportedly in the process of traveling to India. 

“I spoke to her brother very briefly this morning while we were trying to help and arrange their travel,” Don said of Nirali’s family trying to get to India.

“We’ll try to give them strength, whichever way we can. Sometimes words might not help them, but moral support or just showing (up) and being there with them gives them so much strength,” the family friend added.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford shared his condolences on X.

“I’m saddened to learn that a Canadian from Mississauga, Ontario was among those lost in the tragic Air India crash near Ahmedabad. On behalf of the people of Ontario, I extend my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of every victim. We are keeping you in our thoughts during this difficult time,” the Canadian politician wrote.

There were 230 passengers and 12 crew on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft.

debris at the crash site of Air India Ltd. flight AI171 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, on Thursday, June 12, 2025.

Siddharaj Solanki/Bloomberg via Getty

“The passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 7 Portuguese nationals and 1 Canadian national,” the airline said on Thursday morning.

All on board were thought to have been killed; however, it was later reported that the only survivor from the crash was “a British national of Indian origin.” That person was identified by local reports as 40-year-old Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who is currently hospitalized.

He and his brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh, 45, were in India to visit family and were traveling back to the U.K. together. Ajay is presumed dead.

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Ramesh sustained “impact injuries” to his chest, eyes and feet, but was alert enough to describe the crash from the hospital.

“Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed,” he told The Hindustan Times from his hospital bed. “It all happened so quickly.” 

“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran,” Ramesh continued. “There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.