Crash, cameras & chaos — Media frenzy at ground zero in Gujarat’s Meghaninagar

With the Gujarat Police barricading all routes nearly a km away from the Air India crash site in Meghaninagar, the narrow lanes of the residential colony resemble a war zone, not of rescue and recovery, but of tripods, boom mics and desperate voices shouting, “Live visuals from ground zero!”

The crash that claimed 270 lives has not only left behind the wreckage of a Dreamliner but also triggered a full-blown media circus. Local residents, still dazed from the horror of the crash, now face another onslaught — journalists scaling compound walls, knocking repeatedly at doors and pleading for terrace access to get “just one shot” of the charred remains of the plane’s fuselage.

“I said ‘no’ four times, then I found two of them on my third-floor terrace,” said Sonali Ben (name changed), a schoolteacher whose house lies just outside the police cordon. The local woman told The Tribune that one reporter even asked her if she had a ladder to climb the water tank for a better angle.

This newspaper also faced similar problems in capturing pictures of the wreckage. However, one of the households, taking pity on the team working under the scorching sun, allowed access to their terrace. Multiple media crews, national and regional, had take over rooftops in the area, placing cameras on water tanks and even offering money to teenagers to help navigate alternate routes through adjoining rooftops.

“Waha se kuch dikh raha hai kya?” (Is the wreckage visible from there?), asked one journalist as this correspondent scaled a farm wall and stood atop it. “No luck” was the answer, and the crew quickly moved to the next lane in search of a better view.

Every alley in Meghaninagar now echoes with hurried footsteps, the buzz of live broadcasting and microphones thrust at anyone who might have “seen something”. When locals were asked about June 12, the day of the crash, each had their own account. Some described feeling an earthquake-like tremor after a loud bang, while others briefly feared an attack by an enemy country.

The tragedy is now etched into the memory of Meghaninagar and even beyond. Whether it’s auto-rickshaw drivers, cabbies or tea vendors, everyone has one thing in common: discussions about the devastating crash.

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