“Indira Gandhi to be Prime Minister.” “India’s first woman prime minister.” These are headlines from the front pages of old newspapers found by a cafe owner in the French Alps as a glacier melted with the rise in summer temperatures, according to photos released by AFP.

The trove of Indian newspapers dating back to 1966 are thought to have been aboard the Air India Boeing 707 named “Kanchenjunga” that crashed on nearby Mont Blanc on January 24, 1966, claiming 177 lives. Another Indian plane, the Malabar Princess, crashed in the same area in 1950.

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The newspapers found last week by the cafe-owner from the town of Chamonix, Timothee Mottin, are dated January 20 and 21, 1966, AFP reported. They include copies of The Hindu, The Statesman, National Herald and The Economic Times.

The Alpine glacier above Chamonix has been a tourist spot since the 19th century, but it has shrunk dramatically in recent years.

Air India flight 101 crashed near the mountain on January 24, 1966. It was flying from Mumbai to London, with stops at Delhi, Beirut and Geneva. It crashed before stopping in Geneva.

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Among its passengers was Dr Homi Bhabha, who was then the head of India’s Atomic Energy Commission. The official cause of the crash was a misunderstood instruction from a radar controller to the pilot.

However, there have been several conspiracy theories put forth, especially since nuclear scientist Bhabha was on the flight. Some have claimed that the crash was engineered to dent India’s nuclear energy programme.

The story of the crash and Homi Babha’s death is the subject of Nicholas Wild’s graphic novel What If. Read it here.

Here are photos of the newspapers found last week:

Thimotee Mottin, manager of the cafe-restaurant Cabane du Cerro near the Bossons glacier, poses on July 9, 2020, at his cafe near Chamonix in the French Alps, with copies of Indian newspapers likely to have been on board the Air India Boeing 707 "Kangchenjunga" aircraft that crashed in the nearby Mont Blanc massif on January 24, 1966. [Credit: Bernard Barron/AFP]
A picture taken on July 9, 2020, at the Bossons glacier near Chamonix in the French Alps, shows a 1966 copy of Indian newspaper 'The Herald' with a headline announcing the election of Indira Gandhi, likely to have been on board the Air India Boeing 707 "Kangchenjunga" aircraft that crashed in the nearby Mont Blanc massif on January 24, 1966. [Credit: Bernard Barron/AFP]
A picture taken on July 9, 2020, at the Bossons glacier near Chamonix in the French Alps, shows a 1966 copy of Indian newspaper 'The Statesman' with a healdline announcing the election of Indira Gandhi, likely to have been on board the Air India Boeing 707 "Kangchenjunga" aircraft that crashed in the nearby Mont Blanc massif on January 24, 1966. [Credit: Bernard Barron/AFP]
Thimotee Mottin, manager of the cafe-restaurant Cabane du Cerro near the Bossons glacier, poses on July 9, 2020, at his cafe near Chamonix in the French Alps, holding a 1966 copy of Indian newspaper 'The Hindu', likely to have been on board the Air India Boeing 707 "Kangchenjunga" aircraft that crashed in the nearby Mont Blanc massif on January 24, 1966. [Credit: Bernard Barron/AFP]