Just days after his wife, Bharatiben, succumbed to cancer, Arjun Patoliya visited their native Gujarat village in India last week to fulfill her dying wish of being laid to rest there.

For Mistry Jignesh, 72 hours feel like an eternity. Since Thursday evening, Mr Jignesh and his family have been doing the rounds of the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, trying to find details of his 22-year-old niece - one of the 242 passengers that died in an Air India plane crash earlier that day.

Just yesterday at Ahmedabad airport, Sangeeta Gauswami clung tightly to her only child, her heart swelling with pride as she saw off her 19-year-old son from their home in the western Indian state of Gujarat,

At the hospital in Ahmedabad, family members were giving DNA samples, waiting for official confirmation of their loss in the Air India disaster, and remembering their loved ones.

AHMEDABAD, India >> The investigation into the Air India plane crash that killed more than 240 people is focusing on the engine, flaps and landing gear, a source said on Friday, as the aviation regulator ordered safety checks on the airline’s entire Boeing-787 fleet.

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British national, appears to be the only survivor of Air India flight 171, which crashed with 242 people aboard.

Ahead of Saturday's festivities, King Charles III also honored a handful of celebrities and public figures, including David Beckham, Gary Oldman and Elaine Paige.