MANGALORE, Jun 23 (The Hindu): What was once a fuming metallic pyre exactly a month ago is today a wreckage guarded by policemen and slopes made slippery by the rain. Long after the flames have died down and the ash has settled, scores of visitors are drawn to the site everyday; some by a sense of grief and condolence and others by an urge to see the site of one of the worst air tragedies the country has seen.

Policemen at the crash site said that about 50 individuals who gathered at the site on Tuesday afternoon standing only a feet away from the fragments of the aircraft, could be seen at any given point of time during the day. “On Sundays and holidays, we get well over a hundred visitors. We also see a lot of people visiting in the evenings,” said Mr. Dineshsanil , who was in charge of the security.

The wreckage is guarded round the clock with policemen in two shifts. Immediately after the crash, 15 policemen were required for each shift but as investigations draw to a close, only two policemen guard the wreckage. “If we leave the aircraft unguarded, someone will steal a piece of it. The plane is still owned by Air India,” said Mr. Dineshsanil. Two officials from Air India were also present at the site throughout the day.

Security officials complained that some people preferred to bypass the road by cutting through the surrounding forest to make their was to the bottom of the crash site, which is off limits, with the intention of seeing the body and tail of the plane up-close rather than from behind the caution tape.

People gathered at the site can still trace the path the plane took as it careened along the hill above the road, leaving a gash in the dense foliage in its wake. Visitors come from across Mangalore to see the site. Shameez from Surathkal said he had come to the site on the day of the accident and had come again on Tuesday because he could not help visiting as he was passing by.

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