France: Man given jewels he found presumably from plane crash that killed Homi J Bhabha

Eight years after a mountaineer found a box filled with emeralds, rubies, and sapphires, that was presumably on the flight that had taken the life of Homi Jehangir Bhabha - the father of India's nuclear programme, the jewels were divided between the climber and local officials. The box was discovered in 2013 from a glacier near France's Mount Blanc, that saw two Air India planes crash in 1950 and in 1966. 

Authorities believe the precious stones are likely to have come from the Boeing 707 flight, travelling from Mumbai to New York that crashed on the south-west face of Mont Blanc on 24 January 1966, The Guardian reported. Homi J Bhabha was aboard the 1966 flight that killed nearly 117 people. 

Mountain climbers have consistently discovered the wreckage, cargo, as well as human remains from the two planes throughout the years. The Guardian report quoted Chamonix mayor Eric Fournier as saying that the stones were shared this week in two equivalent amounts, with each valued at approximately €150,000 (Rs 1.27 crore).

Notably, India had acquired a bag of diplomatic mail from the flight in September 2012 after the previous year's melting of ice from Mont Blanc's Bossons glacier exposed several copies of Indian newspapers with headlines from the time when Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister of India, The Guardian reported. 

Mountaineer who discovered jewels lauded for his integrity

As per media reports, the stones were stashed in a metal box on the Air India flight that had crashed in the barren countryside over five decades ago. Fournier said that he was extremely happy as the situation had been resolved, especially for the mountaineer, whom he applauded for his "integrity" in reporting those valuable discoveries to authorities as is legally required. 

The mountain climber told Le Parisien newspaper earlier this year that he did not regret being honest and informing his discoveries to the authorities, The Guardian reported. The mountaineer further revealed that after learning he would be awarded some of the jewels, he had decided to use some of it to remodel his apartment. 

(Image: Unsplash/Representative)