Indian-origin woman dies on plane: ‘Struggling with seat-belt’

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Indian-origin woman

Manpreet Kaur

died on a

Qantas flight

on her first visit to India in four years — right before the plane took off. The 24-year-old suffered a medical episode after boarding the plane at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne on June 20. Reports said she died from tuberculosis.
Manpreet Kaur moved to

Australia

in March 2020. This was the first time that she was going to visit her family in Delhi.

A Qantas spokesperson said flight crew and emergency services both provided emergency medical assistance. Kaur’s friend Gurdip Grewal said Manpreet had been feeling unwell in the hours before she arrived at the airport. “When she got on the plane, she was struggling to put her seatbelt on,” the friend said.
Manpreet’s friends have raised a fundraiser for her grieving family. ‘Our dear friend Manpreet left us too soon, leaving a void in our lives that can never be filled,’ Gurdip wrote on GoFundMe. “As we grieve her passing, we want to come together to honour her memory and support her family in their time of need.”
The fundraiser has drawn in just under $25,000 of it’s $30,000 target with more than 670 donations made in just five days. ‘Your support means so much to us and Manpreet’s family, helping them navigate through this challenging period,’ Grewal wrote.
Kaur had been working at Australia Post while studying cookery and had aspirations of becoming a chef.