India plane crash orphans sisters after father's trip to scatter wife's ashes

Two young British girls were left orphaned by the Air India plane crash, after their father travelled to the south Asian country to scatter his wife's ashes.

Arjun Patoliya was travelling home to his daughters, aged four and eight, after scattering the ashes of his wife Bharti, who had died just weeks earlier, when the plane crashed on Thursday.

"The husband went to do the rituals in India and coming back, he was on board. He has left two little girls behind and the girls are now orphans," said Anjana Patel, the mayor of London's Harrow borough, at a multi-faith vigil for those killed in Thursday's plane crash.

At least 279 people died—including passengers, crew members and people on the ground—when a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London's Gatwick Airport crashed in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, shortly after take-off.

The victims included 52 Britons, 20 of whom are thought to have previously worshipped at Harrow's Siddhashram Shakti Centre, where the vigil was held.

"I really hope that those girls will be looked after by all of us," Patel said.

"We don’t have any words to describe how the families and friends must be feeling, so what we can do is pray for them," she added.

British man Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, is believed to be the only person to have survived the crash.