His joy at returning home on holiday after three years was doubled by the news of the success of his girl in the pre-university exam. But on Sunday his and many other families' hopes went up in flames following the touchdown tragedy at the Mangalore's Bajpe airport.
Air India Express' flight from Dubai crashed while landing in Mangalore on Saturday. Eight people survived the fiery crash and he was one of the 158 victims of the plane crash. Air India Express is a subsidiary of India's flag carrier Air India and a low-cost airline operating flights mainly to Gulf countries.
Samad's wife and two children were at the airport to receive him and their excitement of meeting him when the flight's arrival was announced quickly turned into nightmare when the news of the accident spread like bushfire. Samad's wife returned to her home in Kannur after identifying her husband's body. Her elder brother, a degree student, stayed back to receive the body and complete formalities.
"Though he held a vendor's job in the Gulf, he was particular about giving good education to his children even though he did not earn much," said Abdul Kareem, his brother-in-law.
Among the crash victims were a son who caught the first flight to attend his father's funeral, a brother coming for his sister's marriage and another returning for good after 25 years' toil abroad. In northern Kannur and Kasaragod districts almost all families have someone in the Gulf. Mangalore is the nearest airport for them.
Siddique Sulaiman, a salesman in Sharjah, boarded the flight to attend his father's funeral in Kasaragod. His brother Usman, who arrived by an earlier flight, now has the burden of arranging for two burials.
"Our relatives in Dubai, who for the last two days had been trying to get Siddique a ticket back home, managed to get a ticket on this flight. We never thought it would be his last journey," his brother-in-law Abdullah said.
Chandukutty Nair, 55, had plans to settle down at his native place of Neeleshwaram in Kasaragod after spending 25 years in the Gulf. But it turned to ashes on Saturday.
In another tragic twist, K. Abdulla and his wife Ayisha from Benur were awaiting the arrival of their son to join them in the preparations for the wedding of their daughter Raihana. But amidst the joy there was tragedy as their son Anwar Sadique and his friend Abdul Hakeem, also their neighbor, were among those who died in the crash.
 
Personal tales of tragedy
There were other personal tales of tragedy with Mohammed Ziad, 26, an insurance coordinator at the Belhoul Hospital in Dubai, losing his mother and three close relatives.
His mother Zuleikha, 52, her sister Naseema, 46, Mahzan, 22, daughter of another sister, and Mahzan's 21-month-old baby Rashad, perished in the crash. They were traveling to attend his cousin's marriage. Ziad caught the next flight home to arrange for their funeral.
Most of the victims of the worst air crash in south India were charred beyond recognition and nearly a dozen bodies are yet to be identified. Among the four victims in his family, his aunt Naseema's body was identified by the jewelry and the wristwatch she wore. They were all buried at the nearby Jama Masjid late Saturday evening.
The family plans to conduct the marriage of his cousin (daughter of Zuleikha's brother) on Tuesday as scheduled. "It'll be a simple nikah. There is no party or anything. After all life has to go on," said Ziad.
There was chaos at the Wenlock Hospital with many families seeking quick identification of their kin in order to complete the last rites. Two groups even staked claims to one body, forcing the authorities to speed up the identification process  through DNA tests.
DNA experts from Hyderabad who arrived here Sunday are helping 30 families to identify the bodies of their kin. "Around 130 bodies have been identified so far and will be handed over to the family members after post-mortem examination," said R. Rajesh, deputy superintendent of police.
The wait was most painful for the relatives of Aboobacker Siddique and Abdul Rasheed, who were on the flight to attend the marriage of their only sister Fousiya in Kerala's Uppala town Sunday. Some of the relatives are waiting at the hospital for the final verdict along with the relatives of eight other crash victims from Kerala.
 
Higher compensation sought
Opposition leader Oommen Chandy, who arrived here Sunday morning, urged the federal government to speed up the process of identifying the bodies. "DNA is a scientific process, which takes up to seven days to confirm a body. I have asked the authorities to do everything to expedite the process and ease the agony of the families," he told reporters.
He also wanted higher compensation for the families of the victims "who were depending on their remittances from the Gulf for their survival."
Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi also visited the hospital and promised a judicial inquiry into the crash. Air India meanwhile said it would give one million rupees each to the families of the victims aged 12 years and above and Rs.500,000 to those below 12 as an interim monetary relief pending the finalization of full compensation.
Addressing a news conference at the airport here, Air India chief Arvind Jadhav said Rs.200,000 will be given to each injured over and above the relief for the same amount announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday.
The Kerala government has also announced a compensation of Rs.300,000 each for all the 46 people from the state who perished in the air crash. Funerals of 31 victims were conducted in the neighboring Kannur and Kasaragod districts Sunday.