• Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri attended a ceremony to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Air India Flight 182 (Kanishka) bombing in Ahakista, Cork, Ireland on June 23.

• Puri joined Irish and Canadian leaders to pay homage to victims.

• On June 23, 1985, the Boeing 747 aircraft was blown up by a bomb planted by terrorists, at an altitude of 9,400 metres and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while in Irish airspace, killing all 329 people on board, most of them Canadians of Indian descent.

• The Montreal-New Delhi Air India ‘Kanishka’ Flight 182 exploded 45 minutes before it was supposed to land at London's Heathrow Airport. 

• The flight was named after the Kushan dynasty emperor Kanishka.

• The AI-182 ‘Kanishka’ bombing in 1985 was planned and executed in Canada.

• Investigation reports revealed that the bomb was planted by pro-Khalistani terrorists.

• At the 25th anniversary commemorative ceremony for the victims of the tragedy, the then Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper apologised on behalf of the government of Canada for the institutional failings and the treatment of the victims’ families thereafter.

• Relatives of the victims travelled to Ireland in the days following the bombing. The Irish Naval Service led a recovery operation to retrieve the remains of the victims and wreckage of the flight.

• Many of the relatives stayed with the villagers of Ahakista, County Cork, during that time. A permanent memorial was erected by the village in 1986, and a commemoration is held there each year on the morning of June 23.

• Family members of the passengers and crew of the plane gather every year at various memorials set for the victims.

• In New Delhi, top diplomats of Ireland and Canada joined families of the victims.

• The three countries — India, Canada and Ireland — share the grief of this air tragedy that had left the world stunned 40 years ago.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store