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Funeral for Air India crash victim after DNA match

Funeral for Air India crash victim after DNA match

BBC News6 hours ago

A DNA sample has matched to a man loved ones feared was on board the Air India flight which crashed in Ahmedabad, family members have told the BBC.A funeral was held in Dagachi Dui, India, at 10:30 BST on Wednesday for Faizan Rafik, 25, who was travelling home to Leicester when the plane crashed on Thursday.Mourners are also due to gather at the Faizan e Madina mosque in Leicester on Thursday, when prayers will be said.Mr Rafik's cousin, Sameer Rafik, told the BBC on Tuesday loved ones had still been "hoping to hear some good news" but they "weren't getting any updates from anywhere".
Sameer also backed calls for the UK government to provide more support to the families of the victims involved in the crash."It feels very awful," he said. "He's nothing to the government – just a piece of paper, feels like tearing it up and throwing it in the bin."We don't know what to do because we're completely blank. We need some kind of support from someone, we need a guide about what to do but we don't have that at the moment."
In response to the criticism, a spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: "Our staff continue to work around the clock in the UK and India to support the families and loved ones of all those impacted by the crash."Air India has been approached for a comment.

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British Air India crash survivor reveals how he was the only passenger able to free himself and get out of the doomed plane alive
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  • Daily Mail​

British Air India crash survivor reveals how he was the only passenger able to free himself and get out of the doomed plane alive

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It is a miracle, says lone survivor of Air India plane crash
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  • BreakingNews.ie

It is a miracle, says lone survivor of Air India plane crash

The survivor of the Air India plane crash has said it is a 'miracle' he survived, but added he feels 'terrible' that he could not save his brother. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh told The Sun: 'It's a miracle I survived. I am OK physically, but I feel terrible that I could not save Ajay.' Advertisement The Air India aircraft struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad last week, killing 241 of the 242 people on board, 52 of whom were British. The sole surviving passenger was Mr Ramesh. The 40-year-old told The Sun he tried to get seats together with his brother but was not able to. He said: 'If we had been sat together, we both might have survived. Advertisement 'I tried to get two seats together, but someone had already got one. Me and Ajay would have been sitting together. 'But I lost my brother in front of my eyes. So now I am constantly thinking, 'Why can't I save my brother?' Mr Ramesh was in seat 11A, next to one of the aircraft's emergency exits. Officials inspect the site of the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, India (Ajit Solanki/AP) Last week's crash was one of the deadliest plane accidents in terms of the number of British nationals killed. Advertisement Investigators are yet to determine the cause of the crash. On Tuesday, an Air India flight on the same route as the plane that crashed last week was cancelled because of 'precautionary checks', the airline said. Air India's website shows that Flight AI159 was initially delayed by one hour and 50 minutes but was later cancelled. A flight from Gatwick to Amritsar, India, was also axed. Advertisement The cancelled flights were scheduled to be operated by a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which is the same type of aircraft that crashed shortly after take-off at Ahmedabad on June 12.

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