In a gesture of solidarity with the grieving families of the 279 killed in the June 12 crash of an Air India flight to London, the Catholic Church organized candlelight processions and prayers in the Gujarat capital of Gandhinagar and in New Delhi over the weekend.

All but one of the 242 souls aboard the Boeing Dreamliner 787 perished in the crash, and more than three dozen were killed on the ground when the wide-bodied aircraft filled with fuel for the 7,000-mile, Ahmedabad-to-London trip turned into a fire bomb upon hitting the hostel building of the government-run medical college in Meghaninagar, located on the airport’s periphery.

More than 300 people, including representatives of other faiths, took part in the mourning procession the Archdiocese of Gandhinagar organized on June 15.

“We pray for those who have died in this shocking plane crash and pray to the Lord for consoling the families that lost their dear ones,” said Archbishop Thomas Macwan of Gandhinagar at the concluding interreligious condolence meeting, addressed by leaders of different faiths, at St. Xavier’s School.

“Among the flight passengers killed, there are at least six Christians from Gujarat, including two Catholics, one of whom I have known for a long time,” Archbishop Macwan told the Register June 16.

Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi, who is also the secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), led the candlelight prayer service that included recitation of the Rosary, with dozens singing and holding candles at the gate of Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi.

“It was a somber prayer vigil for the departed souls without any speeches,” AC Michael, president of the coalition of Catholic Associations of the Archdiocese of Delhi (CAAD), which organized the prayer gathering, told the Register June 16.

Among the dozens who attended the prayer gathering was Glady Vaiphei Hunjan, a refugee from Manipur. During the vigil, Hunjan held a portrait of 26-year-old airhostess Lamnunthem Singson, one of the 12 crew members of the Air India Dreamliner.

“Singson is also one of the displaced Kuki Christians like me,” Hunjan, who fled to New Delhi from her home near the Myanmar border following the bloody ethnic conflict in Manipur that began in May 2023, told the Register.

“We are now awaiting the DNA [testing] result to get Singson’s body,” Ngamlienlal Kipgen, who accompanied Singson’s brother to Ahmedabad, told the Register.

Kipgen, Singson’s cousin based in the U.S., explained, “I was on holiday [in India] and rushed here with her brother to receive the body. Many are here waiting impatiently for the DNA result to receive the body.”

Five days after the crash, the DNA of only 135 bodies has been matched with their kin, and 101 bodies have been handed over to the families.

Singson is the third and only daughter of the four children in the Christian family.

Singson was the breadwinner of the family, caring for her widowed mother and seriously ill elder brother and two unemployed brothers, after the family fled Imphal (the capital of the Manipur state) during the ethnic conflict to find refuge in the Kuki stronghold of Kangkpokpi in the north.

Besides Singson, the co-pilot of the Dreamliner, Clive Kunder, was also a Christian. He was based in Mumbai.

As more information became available after the tragedy, more personal stories emerged: A young wife perished after postponing her London trip to join her husband, while a family of four — including two young children — was killed in the crash. Bhoomi Chauhan missed the fateful flight to London, as she was 10 minutes late due to a traffic jam.

Additionally, among the reports was the miraculous survival of Vishwaskumar Ramesh, an Indian national based in the U.K.

He told ABC News, “Everything happened in front of my eyes. I thought I would die. … The side where I was seated fell into the ground floor of the building. There was some space. When the door broke, I saw that space and I just jumped out [before the fire].”

Pope Leo XIV on June 12 joined the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) in expressing condolences and prayers.

Stating he was “deeply saddened by the tragedy,” Leo in a message offered “heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives” while “commending the souls of the deceased to the mercy of the Almighty.”