Family on way to attend wedding dies in air crash

DUBAI - A Gulf News staff member, her husband and their daughter, who were flying to India to attend a wedding, were killed in the Air India crash Saturday near Mangalore, a family member said.

The Air India Express passenger plane flying from Dubai overshot the runway after landing at the Mangalore airport, killing 158 people. Only eight people survived.

Manirekha Poonja, who worked in the daily’s finance department, was going on a short trip to Mangalore with her husband and 17-year-old daughter for her cousin’s wedding, the Gulf News reported.

“She (Poonja) boarded the flight last night. Today (Saturday), when we heard the crash news, we got in touch with our relative in Mangalore. Her name is not among the survivors,” the family member said.

Poonja’s daughter Harshini was a student of media and communications.