Ahmedabad:

A resident of Gujarat's Bharuch, Bhoomi was struck in traffic snarls of Ahmedabad and reached the security check 10 minutes late. She pleaded with AI officials to allow her complete the immigration formalities, but they did not relent. "They said, if they allow me to do the formalities, the flight will be delayed by another 15 minutes which they cannot afford. So I immediately gathered my luggage and left the airport," Bhoomi recalls.

It was time's play - the 10 minutes that will always remain precious for Bhoomi Chauhan who missed the flight to London. Passing through an emotional upheaval - at times numb, grateful, and sad, she has yet to come to terms with reality, her voice shivering and heart palpitating even after 20 hours of the AI-171 air crash. She missed the flight, literally not to London, but to something disastrous by 10 minutes and is gathering composure and counting her blessings. "Matarani and Ganpati Bappa saved me," is all that she says.

She was angry and frustrated but that frustration soon turned to horror. The London-bound Air India flight AI-171, carrying 242 people including crew, took off at around 1:38 pm. Bhoomi had left the airport barely 8 minutes earlier, at 1:30 pm. In seconds, the flight crashed into a residential area near the airport. All, except one passenger on board, lost their lives.

"Just out of the airport when I came to know that the flight had crashed, I was totally numb. I thank my mother Goddess and Ganpati Bappa that I am safe, but the incident is absolutely terrifying," says a grateful Bhoomi. "It was nothing but a divine intervention," she adds.

Bhoomi had come home after two years to spend vacation with her parents. She was returning to London, where she lives with her husband. Her young child, however, had stayed back with her parents.

Bhoomi's parents, who are also in shock, said it is by God's grace that their daughter was saved. Her mother said, "We thank Matarani for protecting my daughter. She left her child with me, and it's all because of the Mother Goddess blessings. She was supposed to fly alone. The child also saved his mother."

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