On June 12, a tragic incident unfolded when an Air India jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, western India. With destinations including London, the plane quickly lost steam. It got out of control and crashed into a heavily populated area. In this tragic accident, all 241 persons on board were killed with the exception of one survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. The airplane just crashed into BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel. Tragically, 19 people on the ground perished in the crash’s impact zone.
The passenger manifest included 242 total passengers and crew, with a minimum of 169 Indian nationals. Among the victims were seven Portuguese citizens, one Canadian citizen, and 53 citizens who were passengers from the United Kingdom. Ramesh hung on to a narrow space in front of the door of his compartment and crawled over the wreckage to safety. This traumatic experience has resulted in him dealing with the emotional scars of the crash itself.
While families are still grieving their loved ones, new reports of how remains were treated by the agency only add to the pain these families are feeling. Indian authorities mixed up the remains, sending the wrong ones to some families of British victims. DNA tests confirmed a heartbreaking truth — multiple bodies had been buried together in caskets. This appalling error resulted in the wrongful detention of at least two UK nationals following their return home.
James Healy-Pratt, the attorney representing these families who have been devastated by this crisis, tweeted the significant development. He announced that forensic pathologist Dr. Fiona Shaw had found DNA irregularities in her forensic analysis of the remains. Healy-Pratt further noted, “She was then able to determine that one particular loved one was not at all who the family thought they were.”
The ramifications of these misidentifications are deep for families who continue to seek closure. Sara Nanabawa, who represents relatives of victims, expressed her concern: “I am deeply troubled by what this means for other families who may still be searching for certainty and closure.” She emphasized that “this isn’t just a personal tragedy; it is a collective one.”
Healy-Pratt also took the time to emphasize that the co-mingling of remains happened very early on in the overall identification process. “My understanding was that the co-mingling was at the very beginning, which alerted Dr. Wilcox to the fact that she had to be 100% assiduous about checking the identification of the incoming remains,” he explained.
In response to these revelations, Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesperson for the authorities involved in the identification process, asserted that “all mortal remains were handled with the utmost professionalism and with due regard for the dignity of the deceased.” However, some relatives remain skeptical. A family statement reflected this sentiment: “Recent developments have only confirmed what many feared: that serious mistakes may have been made, and that the dignity and rights of victims and their families were not safeguarded as they should have been.”
Investigations are ongoing into both the crash itself and the treatment of the victims’ remains. All the while, families are left to grieve their unnecessary loss and continue to search for answers in vain. The prolonged tragedy of June 12 has since killed hundreds of thousands. Today, it risks depriving families of their last precious moments with their loved ones through misidentification.
