DNA Sample Of Only One Of 241 Passengers Who Died In Air India Plane Crash Awaited
Jamie's mother arrived on Tuesday to submit her DNA sample, while Fiongal's family will submit their DNA sample in the UK on a Fast Technology Analysis (FTA) card
The DNA sample of only one of the 241 passengers who died in the Air India (AI) 171 crash in Ahmedabad on June 12 is still awaited. Only one passenger on the flight, Viswashkumar Ramesh, survived miraculously and has now been discharged.
The AI flight en route London crashed minutes after it took off from the Ahmedabad airport on June 12. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane first hit the mess building of BJ Medical College Civil Hospital and then crashed into the Atulyam Hostel, where senior residents doctors stayed. Both buildings suffered heavy damage and casualties.
Samples of the remaining 240 have been collected at Kasauti Bhavan in BJ Medical College, a Gujarat government official told the Indian Express on Tuesday.
Among the dead are British passengers Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek and Jamie Ray Meek, founders of The Wellness Foundry, who were returning to the UK after their visit to India for an Ayurvedic retreat. Jamie's mother arrived on Tuesday to submit her DNA sample, while Fiongal's family will submit their DNA sample in the UK on a Fast Technology Analysis (FTA) card, which will be transported with help of the Indian Embassy to Ahmedabad to identify Fiongal's body, the Indian Express reported.
'Once that sample arrives, the work for the collection of blood samples of passengers and crew members on board the flight will be complete," the official said.
Jamie had shared an Instagram video just moments before boarding the ill-fated Air India Flight AI171. The video, now widely shared on social media, captures him at Ahmedabad airport saying goodbye to India and reflecting on his journey.
'We are at the airport just boarding. Goodbye India on a 10-hour flight back to London," Meek says in the video, appearing calm and upbeat. As he chats with another person who briefly appears beside him, he adds, 'My biggest takeaway is to not lose your patience with your partner," followed by a gentle smile and the words, 'Going back happily, happily, happily calm."
Fiongal had promised a vlog on India visit: 'So, it's our last night in India and we have had a magical experience, really. There have been some quite mind-blowing things… We are going to make a vlog about the whole trip and share it."
A total of 36 experts from 10 teams of Forensic Science Lab (FSL) are on duty 24×7 for DNA testing. The teams identified the burnt bodies, examined the black box and doing technical analysis.
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