Prayers across South East for India crash victims

Prayers are being held across the South East for people who died in the Air India plane crash on Thursday.

A temple in Gravesend, Kent, has held a memorial service on Sunday to remember the victims of the crash in Ahmedabad on 12 June.

Members of the community at the Om Mandir Hindu Temple also paid tribute to former Northfleet nursery school headteacher Panna Nagar, who died in the crash.

Davinder Sharma, vice chairman of the temple, said Ms Nagar was "fantastic and everyone adored her".

He added: "We have come together to pay tribute in whatever way we can.

"It's a consolation of some kind that we can pray for those families who are still going through that pain and trying to comprehend what has taken place."

Air India flight AI171, which was bound for Gatwick, crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport.

Air India confirmed at least 241 passengers died while only one survived, as officials in India say that 270 bodies have now been recovered.

India's civil aviation minister said a black box has been found at the crash site.

Sonia Sareen, events organiser at Om Mandir, said the community "came together to pay tribute to the families who have passed away in this tragic plane crash".

Abnash Sareen, president of the temple, said following the news of the crash, members of the community came to the temple on Thursday to mourn those who died.

"Many people, including myself, had tears in our eyes, we just couldn't believe what had happened," he said.

"Even if you didn't know the people who died in the crash, it is still extremely upsetting."

Shyam Govinda, who represents the ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) community in Crawley, told BBC Sussex people were "shocked" and "devastated" by the news.

He added: "Many people are affected by it, our community especially because of the proximity of the airport to Crawley.

"There is a large Gujarati community here, many of us have family members and friends in Ahmedabad so the tragedy seems a lot closer to home."

A special prayer session will be held on Sunday at 17:00 BST at the Bhakti Yoga Centre.

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