Some Families of Air India Victims Sent Wrong Remains, Lawyer Claims: ‘Double Psychological Trauma'
Officials have said 241 of the 242 people onboard the London-bound flight died when the plane crashed shortly after taking off in Ahmedabad, India, on June 12.
But James Healy-Pratt, an aviation lawyer who said he is representing multiple U.K. families in the wake of the crash, told CBS News and The Daily Mail that the remains of two British victims had been misidentified.
Healy-Pratt said the mistakes were uncovered when Inner West London coroner Dr. Fiona Wilcox attempted to match DNA samples from the victims and their families, the outlets reported.
One of the caskets contained remains that had "nothing to do with them,' and another had 'commingled' DNA that 'wasn't related to the person in the casket or the other person,' the lawyer told CBS News.
At least one family was forced to cancel funeral plans after learning the remains they were given did not belong to their loved one, Healy-Pratt said.
The lawyer told The Daily Mail that the families impacted by the mix-up 'deserve an explanation.' Speaking with CBS News, he described it as 'a double psychological trauma.'
'It's one thing to lose a loved one,' he said, 'but then you go to India, you sit in a hotel, you give your DNA, you pray to God that there'll be a DNA match. You're then told there is. You're assured everything's fine and certified. You come back, and then you're told either there's more remains in the casket than just your loved one, or there are no remains, in spite of having been certified, and we don't know who this is.'
In a statement shared Wednesday, July 23, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Shri Randhir Jaiswal said authorities 'have seen the report' about the mix-up and "have been working closely with the UK side from the moment these concerns and issues were brought to our attention.'
"In the wake of the tragic crash, the concerned authorities had carried out identification of victims as per established protocols and technical requirements,' Jaiswal said. 'All mortal remains were handled with utmost professionalism and with due regard for the dignity of the deceased. We are continuing to work with the UK authorities on addressing any concerns related to this issue."
But Healy-Pratt told CBS News that statement 'lacked specifics' and was "simply not good enough."
"The families want to draw a line under their emotional distress that's come out from this and so that requires detailed hard work by the Indian authorities to provide assurances that there are no further remains of British nationals either unidentified, identified or mislabeled, misidentified in India,' the lawyer explained.
'And the line will not be drawn until that cast iron assurance is provided. And at the moment, it's not forthcoming," he added.
PEOPLE reached out to Air India for comment on Wednesday, July 23.
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The airline previously said 53 British nationals were on the Boeing 787-8 aircraft when it crashed in June. There were also 169 Indian nationals, 7 Portuguese nationals and 1 Canadian national on board.
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