Ahmedabad plane crash: DNA tests identify 87 victims; 47 bodies handed over to kin

Four days after the horrific crash of an Air India plane in Ahmedabad claimed 270 lives, 87 victims have so far been identified through DNA matching and 47 bodies handed over to their families, officials said on Monday, 16 June.

Earlier, hospital authorities on Sunday confirmed that former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani's mortal remains were also identified through the DNA test and they will be handed over to his family on Monday.

Rupani was among the 242 passengers and crew members on board the London-bound Air India flight AI-171 that crashed in Ahmedabad on 12 June.

Authorities are carrying out DNA tests to establish the identity of the victims since many of the bodies were charred beyond recognition or damaged otherwise after the plane crash on 12 June.

"Till now, 87 DNA samples have been matched, and 47 bodies have already been handed over to the respective families. These deceased were from different parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan, such as Udaipur, Bharuch, Anand, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, Kheda, Mehsana, Arvalli and Ahmedabad," additional civil superintendent Dr Rajnish Patel told reporters.

The families of nine victims were awaiting their turn to collect the mortal remains, while the kin of eight other victims, whose DNA has been matched, will arrive in a couple of hours, he added.

Earlier on Sunday, the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital authorities in a statement said samples of 250 victims, including persons on board the flight as well as those who were killed on the ground, have been collected for identification.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 242 persons on board crashed into a medical college complex in Ahmedabad moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1.39 pm on 12 June.

While 241 persons on board the aircraft died, one passenger miraculously survived.

Besides, 29 persons are reported to have died in the disaster on the ground, which includes five MBBS students.