The DNA of 11 victims from the devastating Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad has been matched with their family members, a senior official from B J Medical College confirmed on Saturday.
Authorities are relying heavily on DNA testing to identify victims, as many of the bodies were severely burnt or damaged in Thursday’s catastrophic crash.
The painstaking process is being conducted with care due to its significant legal and medical ramifications, Dr. Rajnish Patel, professor of surgery at B J Medical College told PTI.
“We cannot afford to rush this. Each case needs to be verified meticulously,” Dr. Patel said during a media briefing.
At a joint press conference, Gujarat Revenue Secretary Alok Pandey said the deceased hailed from 18 of Gujarat’s 33 districts, as well as from other parts of India. Families of 11 foreign nationals who lost their lives in the crash have also been contacted, he added.
To help families cope with the overwhelming grief, trained counsellors will be made available to support them through the trauma, Pandey said.
"Apart from forensic experts from all over Gujarat, several experts sent by the Centre are working round the clock to match DNA samples.
As soon as the results come, we send them to the civil hospital so that families can claim the bodies," he told repoters.
"As of 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. They are sent to BJ Medical College, he added.
Earlier, officials confirmed that eight victims whose bodies were recognizable and didn’t require DNA testing had already been handed over to their families.
The central government has formed a high-level, multi-disciplinary committee led by the Union Home Secretary to investigate the cause of the crash.
The tragedy struck just moments after flight AI171 took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The aircraft crashed within the grounds of the B J Medical College campus in Meghaninagar, bursting into flames.
