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At least 270 were killed in plane crash in India

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Britain home to one of the biggest Indian expat

communities

By Muvija M

LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - Dozens of members of

Britain's Indian community gathered at a Hindu temple in London

on Saturday for a vigil mourning the victims of this week's Air

India crash, many of whom had personal connections to the

temple.

Leaders from the Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Muslim, Parsi,

Zoroastrian and other communities offered their prayers, as

those in attendance, hands folded, recited chants.

A representative of Britain's King Charles read out a

message from him and offered Christian prayers.

Rajrajeshwar Guruji, head of the Siddhashram Hindu temple in

Harrow, likened the grief of those who lost family members in

the crash of the London-bound flight to the wait for a loved

one's return from an endless journey.

"They're just waiting and waiting, now they are not going to

come back again," he said in an interview.

Guruji, who comes from the state of Gujarat where the plane

crashed, said the temple had helped family members in Britain

get information about their loved ones.

"Some of the members ... I have spoken to them, and ... they

don't have the words," he said. "They are in shock."

Britain has one of the largest Indian communities outside

India, with nearly 1.69 million people - or 3.1% of the

population - identifying as ethnically Indian.

"We believe that everyone who is born has to go one day. But

I hope nobody goes the way these ... passengers, as well as the

medical students, have gone," said Harrow Mayor Anjana Patel,

who lost a family member.

Only one of the 242 passengers and crew on board survived

the crash, while others were killed when the plane struck a

medical college's hostel.

Patel told Reuters that the council was offering grief

counselling.

"We just cannot bear how people must be feeling," she said.

Jyotsna Shukla, 66, said her son's childhood friend was on

the plane with his wife and three children.

"I feel very bad because he was so young," she said, before

breaking down into tears.

Among those killed was Vijay Rupani, a former chief minister

of Gujarat, who had visited the temple.