A minute’s silence was held at a Pride event to honour a gay couple who were amongst the more than 240 passengers killed in the Air India crash. 

On Thursday (12 June) the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was destined for London Gatwick but crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport, plummeting from the air and into a building in the suburb of Ahmedabad, the largest city in Gujarat state.

The couple, Former BBC TV show DanceX contestant Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, 45, and his husband Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, 39, were amongst the 53 Britons on the flight when it crashed. 

The two men ran a wellness and lifestyle company called The Wellness Foundry and filmed themselves laughing in a post shared on their company’s instagram account just hours before the doomed flight. 

At Ramsgate Pride on Saturday (14 June), a minute’s silence was held to honour to couple, who were due to host a wellbeing workshop at the event.

In a video taken at the event, a Pride organiser can be seen explaining the need for the minute’s silence to Ramsgate Pride’s attendees, followed by a moment of pause and then claps and cheers to honour the men. 

Speaking to the BBC prior to Ramsgate Pride, Lucy Taylor – assistant manager for Ramsgate Pride – said the couple were “brilliant” and “brought a lot of peace and healing in their spiritual practice to Ramsgate”.

“They were really vibrant people and I will be performing a song dedicated to them,” Taylor added. 

Following the couple’s deaths, Ramsgate Pride took to social media to express sorrow from the whole Pride team. 

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On Ramsgate Pride’s official Instagram story, the team said they were “absolutely heartbroken” by the loss of the two men. 

“We are absolutely heartbroken to announce that The Wellness Foundry Workshops will no longer be taking place at our Pride event due to the sudden and devastating loss of Jamie and Fiongal in the Air India Flight,” the post read. 

“Our thoughts are with their loved one’s at this tragic time.”