British families grieving loved ones lost in the Air India Flight AI171 crash are now facing a second trauma, being told the wrong bodies may have been sent home, The Times reported on Tuesday.
The June 12 crash, which happened just minutes after takeoff from India’s Ahmedabad Airport, killed all 241 people on board and 19 more on the ground.
Among the victims were 52 British citizens. Around a dozen sets of remains were flown back to the UK, but DNA testing has revealed at least some of those may not match the families they were returned to.
What DNA tests revealed?
DNA testing in London led by Dr. Fiona Wilcox, the senior coroner for inner west London, uncovered troubling mismatches between the returned remains and family DNA samples.
At least two caskets flown back to the UK didn’t contain the bodies families were expecting.
One grieving family had to call off funeral plans altogether after being told the remains inside the coffin weren’t identifiable, leaving them with no idea whose body they’d received.
In another upsetting case, parts of multiple individuals were reportedly found in a single coffin, and had to be separated before any service could take place.
The lawyer representing several of the affected British families, said the mix-ups have left people heartbroken and full of unanswered questions not just about how the mistakes happened, but also about who their loved ones have actually received.
He stressed that families have been waiting weeks for clarity, with no resolution in sight.
Some have been especially shaken after receiving remains in plastic containers instead of traditional coffins, a decision reportedly made because the bodies were so badly burned in the crash, where temperatures are believed to have reached around 1,500°C.
What authorities said?
Both Indian and British authorities are now looking into how these mix-ups happened.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs, through spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, said all remains were handled with “utmost professionalism” and that proper protocols were followed during the identification process.
He also confirmed that India is working closely with UK officials to address the families’ concerns.
Air India, for its part, has distanced itself from the identification process.
The airline said it was only responsible for transporting the remains through its cargo division and had outsourced emergency logistics to a crisis management firm, Kenyon International.
While it’s reviewing the mishandling claims, Air India hasn’t officially acknowledged any mistakes so far.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to raise the issue directly with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his upcoming state visit to Britain.
The troubling mishandling of the victims’ remains has led to growing demands for a full investigation both in the UK and India to ensure accountability and to make sure such painful mistakes aren’t repeated in the future.
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