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 on 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 Gulf News's finance department, was going on a short trip to Mangalore with her husband and 17-year-old daughter for her cousin's wedding, 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.
"At first the name of her daughter Harshini was listed among the dead but afterwards we got confirmation that Manirekha and her husband did not survive."
Manirekha's daughter Harshini was a student of media and communication and was also on social networking site Twitter under the username @netizentwo
Her last tweet was from Dubai Airport where she wrote: "At the airport and blah =_= Only thing to look forward to is the rain."
Poonja's daughter Harshini was a student of media and communications. PTI
