‘Give us whole body, not partial remains': Families of Ahmedabad plane crash victims; 2 heads found in 1 body bag, DNA test to be repeated
'Give us whole body, not partial remains': Families of Ahmedabad plane crash victims; two heads in one body bag will delay DNA process
AHMEDABAD: Amid grieving families struggling to accept the impossibility of recovering all the remains of their loved ones, the process of victim identification is encountering unexpected hurdles.
In one challenging case, two heads were found in a body bag, necessitating a repeat of the entire DNA testing procedure, which takes around 72 hours.
'This will require the DNA sampling process to be repeated as the parts belong to two victims and shouldn't be in the same bag,' said a senior official at the Civil Hospital.
On Saturday, a man was seen pleading with the officials to hand over all the remains of his family members for the last rites, but he was informed that this was an improbable task.
'It was hard to convince him,' said the official.
Outside the postmortem room of the 1,200-bed Civil Hospital, where health department personnel have stored body bags for DNA analysis, anguished relatives hold on to hope that the officials will be able to retrieve all the remains of every victim.
'We have an established clinical protocol which includes placing the remains in body bags, transferring them to cold storage, conducting analysis and finally handing over the identified remains in coffins to the families. We cannot assure the families of retrieval of complete body parts of the victims as the remains are charred,' the official added.
HOSPITAL'S CHECKLIST
FOR RELATIVES OF THE DECEASED
On Saturday, Civil Hospital authorities issued a checklist and dos and don'ts for the relatives of the deceased for quick procedure of the handover of the mortal remains.
It is advisable for the relative who has provided DNA sample to come for the handover of mortal remains
In case it is not possible, close relatives of the person should come. In case of unavoidable circumstances, they can issue an authority letter to others for carrying out procedures on their behalf
The documents required for the handover include Aadhaar card or any photo identification document issued by the govt
They should also carry the documents of the deceased such as Aadhaar card, passport, or voter ID card (original or duplicate) They should carry a document that can prove relationship with the deceased
Mobile number provided at the time of giving the DNA sample
The hospital will issue a file that will include postmortem report, death certificate and other legal documents
If there is no document related to relationship, the relatives can approach mamlatdar, collector office
Air India will help carry the bodies by flight. Coordination for the same is required
Those who want to take the mortal remains by road will be provided free transport
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