Wrong bodies of Air India crash victims received by families in UK

At least two families of Air India crash victims in Britain received the wrong bodies, according to the lawyer representing them. Sources in India said the bodies were sent in sealed coffins after DNA sampling by a government hospital in Ahmedabad, and the airline had no role in the mix-up.

"Remains of the crash victims were wrongly identified and flown to the UK," a lawyer of Keystone Law, representing the families, told India Today TV.

The mix-up was revealed when the coroner in London attempted to verify the remains of the deceased people by matching their DNA, the lawyer added.

"One family had to abandon their funeral plans after being told by the coroner that the coffin contained the body of an unknown person and not that of their family member," said the lawyer.

Another family received the remains of their family members mixed with the remains of another passenger, with the remains of both the victims placed in the same coffin, according to the lawyer.

"The family had to get the remains of the two passengers separated before carrying out the funeral of their family member," the lawyer told India Today TV. "One family was left with no one to bury after realising that they had received the wrong remains."

The crash of Gatwick-bound AI171 in Ahmedabad on June 12 killed 241 people on board. There were 53 British nationals among those killed in the air crash, according to a BBC report.

The Daily Mail reported the funerals of several British citizens were carried out in India, while the mortal remains of 12 passengers were sent to the UK.

The bodies were handed over to the families after DNA tests were conducted at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital as most of the bodies were charred beyond recognition.

Sources told India Today Digital that the remains were handed over by the government hospital in sealed coffins to the next of kin, and Air India had no role in it other than facilitating the transfer and supporting the bereaved families.

"The Ahmedabad hospital called up the relatives for DNA samples and handed over the sealed coffins to them, while Kenyons Emergency Services, an agency hired by Air India, supported the bereaved relatives in the process," the source said.

"We are working on establishing the chain of events about how the bodies of the passengers were recovered and identified," the lawyer told India Today TV, adding that an enquiry had been sought into the matter.

The mix-up in the receipt of the remains was revealed when Inner West London coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox sought to verify the repatriated Britons' identities by matching their DNA with samples provided by the families.

"While some victims were either speedily cremated or buried in India, in accordance with their religious beliefs, the remains of at least 12 have been repatriated," aviation lawyer James Healy-Pratt, who represents many of the British families, told The Daily Mail.

Healy-Pratt is currently helping British families by uncovering the full truth about the crash and making sure they receive fair compensation through the courts, according to the report.

SOME FAMILIES RECEIVED WRONG REMAINS AND DESERVE ANSWERS: HEALY-PRATT

Healy-Pratt is now currently looking into the reportedly botched identification process.

"I've been sitting down in the homes of these lovely British families over the last month, and the first thing they want is their loved ones back," the lawyer told the Mail.

"But some of them have got the wrong remains and they are clearly distraught over this. It has been going on for a couple of weeks (and) I think these families deserve an explanation," the news outlet quoted Healy-Pratt as saying.

While the family who received mixed remains managed to have them separated and proceed with a funeral, he said the other family — referred to as Family X — has been left in limbo.

"Family X have no-one to bury because it was the wrong person in their casket. And if isn't their relative, the question is, who is it in that coffin? Presumably it's another passenger and their relatives have been given the wrong remains," he told the tabloid.

The lawyer is now trying to establish the precise chain of events in the recovery and identification process, beginning when the bodies were pulled from the jet's smouldering wreckage.

Families trusted officials to handle the process properly and ensure the containers were labeled correctly.

Altaf Taju, a grieving son who lost three family members in the plane crash, said, "Nobody looked at the remains. We weren't allowed to."

Taju, from Blackburn, lost his London-based parents Adam, 72 and Hasina, 70. His parents were travelling with their son-in-law Altafhusen Patel, 51, who also died.

"They just said, "This is your mother or father", and gave us a paper label with an ID number on it. We had to take their word for it. It's horrific that this could have happened, but what could anyone do?," Taju was quoted as saying by The Daily Mail.

Taju was told of the mix-up by a police liaison officer. He takes comfort from the fact that his parents and brother-in-law were not involved in the confusion because they were buried quickly, in India, The Daily Mail reported.

AIR INDIA PLANE CRASHES IN JUNE

The ill-fated Air India flight bound for London's Gatwick airport, carrying 242 passengers of various nationalities, crashed on a hostel of medical students near Ahmedabad's Sardar Patel Airport on June 12. While one passenger survived, the death toll stood at 274.

With the preliminary report out, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) probe is now focusing on the analysis of data retrieved from the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) - together known as the black box - and evidence from the wreckage site.

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