Air India tragedy: DNA of 86 victims matched, 38 bodies handed over as families bid final goodbyes

The bodies of 38 victims of the Air India AI 171 plane crash were handed over to the bereaved kin by Sunday evening. These include 30 passengers and crew on board the ill-fated flight and eight who lost their lives on the ground after the plane crashed on the hostel and mess buildings of BJ Medical College.Even as mammoth teams of 100-odd doctors and forensic scientists worked round-the clock to carry out DNA matching of victims’ bodies and body parts with the kin, authorities declared that the DNA of 86 passengers and crew members were matched by 6 pm on Sunday.Alok Kumar Pandey, the state relief commissioner, said that families of all 230 passengers aboard the ill-fated flight have been contacted. “Families of three passengers from foreign countries are likely to arrive here by Monday evening or Tuesday morning.

We are in touch with all families and teams formed for procedural coordination as inquest reports, death certificates, and other documents will be provided at the hospital,” he said.Dr Rajneesh Patel, additional medical superintendent, Civil Hospital, said that out of 24 bodies handed over by 4 pm on Sunday, it includes one person from Udaipur, five from Vadodara, eight from Ahmedabad, five from Kheda, four from Mehsana, and one from Aravalli among others.

Emotional scenes were witnessed outside the mortuary as bodies were handed over in coffins. Family members rued that the tragedy robbed them of the chance to see the faces of their loved ones one last time. Crematoriums witnessed poignant scenes as the last rites of victims were held.In Ahmedabad, the bereaved family of Megha Mehta bid her final adieu at Thaltej crematorium. In Ramnagar village in Anand, Mahendra Vaghela, who died on his first-ever trip to the UK to meet his newborn granddaughter, was cremated.For many other relatives, the wait for closure seemed endless. Meanwhile, a team from various central and state govt agencies, led by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau visited the crash site in Meghaninagar on Sunday for a probe into the cause of the disaster.