AHMEDABAD, June 20: Over a week after 270 people were killed in the Ahmedabad plane crash, 231 victims have been identified through DNA tests, and the mortal remains of 210 of them were handed over to their families, a health official said on Friday.
Authorities are carrying out DNA matching to establish the identity of the victims, as several bodies were charred beyond recognition or damaged.
“Till Friday evening, 231 DNA samples have been matched and relatives have been contacted. So far, the mortal remains of 210 victims have been handed over to families,” Medical Superintendent of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital Rakesh Joshi said.
The 210 victims comprise 166 Indians, 36 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian, he said.
Of the 166 Indians, a total of 155 were on board the ill-fated aircraft, Joshi informed.
The state government had earlier said that samples of 250 victims, including persons on board the ill-fated flight as well as those killed on the ground, were collected for identification.
‘Missing’ medical hostel cook, her granddaughter confirmed dead
The suspense surrounding a 52-year-old ‘missing’ woman, employed as a cook at the mess at a medical hostel complex here, the site of the Air India plane crash, and her granddaughter ended after a DNA test confirmed they were among the deceased, her family said.
Bodies of Sarlaben Thakor, who was working at the complex for the last 15 years, and her two-year-old granddaughter Aadhya were handed over to their family members on Thursday at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital after a DNA test confirmed their death in the June 12 tragedy.
“After the DNA test, the bodies of my mother Sarlaben and daughter Aadhya were handed over to us on Thursday.”
He added that, “With a heavy heart, we cremated them the same day,” Ravi Thakor, son of the woman, told reporters.
For the last 15 years, Ravi Thakor along with his family, including his deceased mother, and wife Lalita, used to cook food for MBBS students at the hostel mess of BJ Medical College situated in Meghaninagar.
The location where the tragedy struck in the afternoon more than a week ago.
On June 12, just before the crash, Ravi and Lalita Thakor left the mess for Civil Hospital, situated nearly 500 meters away, to deliver food tiffins for senior resident doctors, while Aadhya and Sarlaben remained at the mess, where MBBS students living in the hostel gather for meal.
“We left the mess at around 1 pm to deliver tiffins at the hospital. At around 1:40 pm, a plane suddenly smashed into the mess as well as the adjoining hostel building, and the entire area was engulfed in fire.”
“When we reached the spot, my mother and daughter were missing while all other women working in the mess managed to come out,” said Ravi Thakor.
After the crash, Ravi Thakor and his wife frantically searched for Sarlaben and Aadhya at every possible location, including all wards of Civil Hospital and even the post-mortem room, but failed to locate them.
Lalita Thakor said they used to take along their son and daughter to the mess every day and leave them in custody of Sarladevi while going out to deliver tiffins at Civil Hospital.
“My son was also in that building when the plane crashed. Luckily, he took cover inside the laundry shop of the hostel and then came out safely. “
“After failing to locate my daughter and mother-in-law, we registered a missing persons’ complaint and gave our DNA samples for matching with bodies,” she said.
Finally, a week after the crash, doctors matched the DNA samples with the mortal remains of Sarlaben and Aadhya, and handed them over to the grieving kin on Thursday after establishing their identity. (PTI)
