Two children are now orphaned after their father died in the Air India plane crash that happened on Thursday, June 12.

The Flight AI117, which crashed in Ahmedabad, had taken with it Arjun Patoliya, 37, a widower and a father of two, and 240 other passengers.

Arjun Patoliya had travelled to Gujarat, India, where he went to fulfil his late wife's last wishes, which was to have her ashes spread in a river there.

Patoliya had left his two children, aged 4 and 8, in London when making the journey to India but never returned to them.

Their mother had died from cancer just one week before the fatal plane crash that took their father's life, leaving them orphaned.

Touched by the children's sudden loss of two parents, Patoliya's employer in the UK opened a GoFundMe account to raise financial support for them.

Legit.ng checked the account on Wednesday, July 2 and found that so far, £677,285 (over $929,000 or N1.4 billion) has been raised.

The GoFundMe account reads:

"In a span of just 18 days, two young sisters — only 4 and 8 years old — have lost both of their beloved parents. Their mother, Bharti Patoliya, passed away after a courageous battle with cancer.

Fulfilling her final wish, her husband Arjun Patoliya travelled to India to scatter her ashes in her homeland in Gujarat. But on his journey home to their daughters, tragedy struck again — Arjun was among those lost in the Air India Flight Tragedy in June 2025, shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad.

Arjun left to bid farewell to his wife, never returned to the children they both raised. Now, these two beautiful young girls have been left without parents — their world turned upside down in just over two weeks. This campaign set by me and the family, aims to provide security, stability, and love in the years ahead."

The donations received so far have surpassed the initial target of £500,000. The account has received over 15,400 donations.

The Air India plane crash devastated a lot of families who have been mourning the loss of their loved ones.

At least 270 people lost their lives in the tragedy, as the plane also killed people on the ground apart from those on board.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that passengers in an Air India plane bound for Jaipur on June 13 were stranded without air conditioning after their flight faced a five-hour delay due to technical issues.

A social media influencer, Arzoo Sethi, who was in the airplane with her young son, made a video showing the plight of passengers.

According to the dietician, they received no communication or assistance from any of the crew members.

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Proofreading by Funmilayo Aremu, copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng