DNA samples of six Air India plane crash victims match, bodies to be handed over to kin: Hospital

Authorities of the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital have so far identified six victims on the basis of the DNA samples and initiated the process to hand over the bodies to the relatives, officials said on Saturday, 14 June.

Earlier, bodies of eight victims, who were identified by their relatives and did not need DNA profiling, had been handed over to their families, they said.

Doctors on Saturday said 270 bodies have been brought to the hospital from the air crash site so far.

A London-bound Air India flight (AI171) from Ahmedabad crashed into a medical college hostel complex in the Meghaninagar area of the city moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on 12 June afternoon.

The victims included 241 of the 242 passengers and crew members on board the flight. One passenger miraculously escaped. The other victims are from the hostel complex.

To expedite the DNA matching exercise, Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi held a meeting with the officials of the state Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) on Saturday, 14 June.

Additional Civil Superintendent of the civil hospital, Dr. Rajnish Patel, told reporters that the results of six DNA samples have arrived and relatives of those six victims have been informed over the phone to collect the mortal remains.

After the meeting at the FSL, Sanghavi said in Gandhinagar that it was the priority of the state government to finish the DNA matching exercise.

"Apart from forensic experts from all over Gujarat, several experts sent by the Centre are working round-the-clock to match DNA samples," he said.

"Till Friday, relatives of nearly 220 deceased persons had approached the police to give their samples," said police inspector Chirag Gosai, who is handling the affairs at the post-mortem room.

Details are collected from relatives arriving at the post-mortem room, and the relatives are then sent to BJ Medical College to provide their DNA samples, he said.