Man whose whole family died in Air India crash told he cannot stay in UK

It was one of the deadliest air disasters of the century

Mohammad Shethwala’s wife, Sadikabanu, and their two-year-old daughter Fatima were among the 260 people killed in the June 2025 crash shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad in India.

Mohammad entered the UK in 2022 as a dependent on his wife’s student visa, and his legal right to remain in the country was tied to her immigration status.

He has lived in the UK for four years, applied to extend his visa on humanitarian grounds because other than his support network of friends in London, he has “nothing left”.

However, the Home Office rejected that request last week and put him on immigration bail, and it has now been branded cruel.

The government should be ashamed for “depriving a grieving father of his home”, campaigners have said.

Mohammad says that he refuses to accept the government’s decision, as he struggles to speak about the incident.

“I am not accepting this decision from the government. I’m not feeling well right now because of this. I’m not accepting this decision”, he told Metro.

When his wife and daughter died in the Air India crash, she had just started a new job in Rugby and was about to apply for a Skilled Worker visa to continue life in the UK from 2026.

Mohammad, who was working as a delivery driver, lost his closest family and his path to staying in the UK when the Ahmedabad to London flight went down seconds after take off on June 12 last year.

The crash killed 169 Indian nationals, 53 British, one Canadian and seven Portuguese.

Speaking to Metro, his friend Musab Taherwala said Mohammad “lost everything” and that “everything has been ruined.”

“He’s not able to talk about it properly. His mind is not working properly. His wife was supposed to be the main applicant for a skilled worker visa. If his wife had survived, he would still be allowed in the UK”, his friend said.

“If his daughter had survived, he would have been granted indefinite leave to remain when she turned seven, but she died as well”, the friend added.

On “compassionate” and “humanitarian” grounds. Mohammad applied for Further Leave to Remain (FLR) to extend his visa in December last year.

The bereaved dad’s mental health had deteriorated and he was reliant on a close support network of friends in the UK, his lawyers have argued.

However, on April 9, the Home Office rejected Mohammad’s application and legal arguments, in spite of their pleas.

According to officials, Mohammad’s situation did not fall under exceptional circumstances, as they argued he could still receive adequate mental health care from health services and other relatives in India.

The Home Office also put him on immigration bail, which stops him from working and bars him from potentially applying for a Skilled Worker visa to stay in the UK.

As Metro reports, Mohammad’s lawyers plan to challenge the Home Office’s decision in the courts, which will allow him to stay in the UK during that process.

The Boeing 787-8 crash is one of the deadliest air disasters of the 21st century, as it killed 260 people, including 241 passengers and crew members.

On the ground, 19 people died after it hit a medical college hostel building and bursting into flames.