Amid wait for last rites, govt expedites DNA identification

Hindustan Times

16 hours ago

The DNA analysis of samples collected from the site of the London-bound Air India flight crash will be expedited to complete the process within three days instead of the usual three months, officials said on Friday.
The tests of the 275 samples collected from the site are set to be conducted at forensic laboratories in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, the officials said.
'It usually takes about three months to analyse an individual's DNA and issue the report. We have expedited the entire process and will do it within 72 hours,' Saumil P Merchant, head of the department of forensic medicine & toxicology, Narendra Modi Medical College, said.
The 275 samples collected from the site will be matched with the relatives of the deceased, he said. 'These include body parts disintegrated and kept in the mortuary,' Merchant said.
Due to the impact of the fire at the time of the crash, many bodies have been charred beyond recognition forcing authorities to rely on DNA testing to identify victims.
According to the Air India manifest for the London-bound flight, of the 242 people on board, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian, apart from 12 crew members. Only one passenger miraculously survived the crash.
Separately, at least four students are feared dead after the Air India 787-8 Dreamliner hit two buildings of the BJ Medical College complex as it lost altitude and crashed.
Ambulances and stretchers line the entrance of the mortuary of Ahmedabad's civil hospital where several bodies have been placed till they can be identified.
Outside, is a sea of people carrying documents that might help in establishing identities of their loved ones.
'My wife Sarala and granddaughter Aaradhya were in the mess when the plane crashed. Last night, we searched for them in all nearby hospitals but could not find them,' Prahlad Pratap Thakur, whose family worked at the college hostel's mess, said. 'My son and I have now given our blood samples for DNA identification. The doctors have told us to wait for the results.'
Meanwhile, authorities have turned the examination hall of BJ Medical College right behind the mortuary has been turned into a DNA sample collection centre.
Till Friday morning, at least 200 people had given samples, officials at the civil hospital said.
'We are expecting families of foreign nationals to start reaching on Saturday,' Dr Kuldipsinh P Barot, from the medical college's forensic department, said.
At the entrance of the hall, message welcomes the grieving relatives: 'DNA reports will be available only after 72 hours'.
But to the families still struggling to come to terms with their losses, the wait is unfathomable.
'Why should be wait 72 hours… We cannot wait,' said Pune-resident Sameer Sheikh whose son, Irfan, was one of the crew members.
'Air India executives went inside the mortuary and confirmed to me that my son's body is not charred. We showed our son's identity card to the Air India executives who confirmed that the body is not charred and they could recognise him. They should hand over the bodies of those who have been identified,' Sheikh said.
Imtiyaz Ali, who travelled to Ahmedabad from Mumbai, also gave blood samples in the hope of finding the bodies of his brother Javed, Javed's wife Mariyam and their two children — Amani and Zayn.
'Javed came on June 6 for our mother's treatment and to celebrate Eid… I am yet to tell my mother about the crash. We have not even seen the bodies. The doctors here told me to give my blood samples,' he said.
Imtiyaz, however, still hoped his brother would be found alive.
'I am sending WhatsApp messages to his phone number. For some reason the messages are getting delivered. I am still getting two ticks to every message sent on his WhatsApp. I know the chances are low but I wish he is and his family are alive,' Imtiyaz said.
Javed's phone, police officials said, might be among the hundreds of unclaimed bags that fell to the ground floor of the building near the airport wall when the plane crashed.
The sample collection desk was busy through the night, with families of the victims rushing to the site.
But for the medical students, the task of sample collection has become traumatic. 'Some families coming here are relatives of juniors whom we have seen at the college here,' said a PG student of BJ Medical Students whose juniors were among the victims of the crash.
The Ahmedabad airport shares it boundary wall with that of the boys' hostel of the BJ Medical College where the plane crashes on Thursday afternoon — during the students' lunch hour.
'It is painful. Equally painful is having to take the blood sample of an 11-year-old who lost both his parents in the crash or an elderly man who has lost his son and daughter-in-law,' the PG student said.
'Those who died weren't just the passengers or those who were trapped the BJ Medical College's mess when the flight crashed. There were passers-by and shop keepers near the mess who too have died in the fire after the crash,' she said.