As authorities continued efforts on Friday to identify victims of the Air India crash in Ahmedabad, grief-stricken families remained at the Civil Hospital, awaiting confirmation of their loved ones through DNA analysis. A CNN-News18 report said that as many as 200 DNA samples have been collected so far. Authorities have also begun handing over the bodies after the identification process, the report added.
Keenal Mistri, a passenger on the ill-fated flight, had travelled to India from London a month ago for dental treatment, according to her father-in-law. “We’ve given our blood samples, and they’ve told us the DNA results will take around 72 hours. She was scheduled to return to London yesterday,” he told ANI.
The Air India AI-171 flight, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner en route to London’s Gatwick Airport, crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad on June 12. The aircraft struck a building at the BJ Medical College hostel and erupted into flames. The airline confirmed that only one of the 242 people on board survived the crash.
Forensic teams are working round the clock to collect DNA samples, as most of the bodies recovered from the wreckage were charred beyond recognition.
Among the missing are the family members of Thakur Ravi, a staffer at BJ Medical College’s undergraduate mess. "My mother, Sarlaben Pralhadji Thakur, and my two-year-old daughter, Adyaravi Thakur, are still unaccounted for. My wife, my mother, and I all worked in the UG mess," he said.
A local resident living near the crash site recounted the chaotic scene. “There was thick smoke coming from the garden area. I called my friends—around 15 to 20 of them came to help. We managed to rescue several people alive, but two died on their way to the hospital. Altogether, we pulled out around 20–25 students and found eight gas cylinders,” he said, adding that his home is just 100 metres from the site.
Visuals from Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on Friday showed police personnel distributing refreshments to families of the victims.
Meanwhile, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has launched a formal inquiry into the crash, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu confirmed. Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has also recovered a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) from the debris as part of the ongoing investigation.
