Mortal remains of Shaikh to arrive today
Irfan Shaikh
, the 22-year-old crew member who tragically died aboard Air India flight 171 after it crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12, will arrive in Pune on Saturday.
Family members confirmed that Irfan's DNA matched with his father's samples, and hospital authorities in Ahmedabad are expected to hand over the body late on Friday.
Irfan's uncle, Firoz, informed TOI that the flight carrying the remains is scheduled to depart Ahmedabad around 5.40am and is expected to reach Pune by 7am. His last rites will be performed at Nehrunagar in Pimpri around 9am.
"Initially, the DNA samples of Irfan's brother Amir were taken, but we did not receive any updates," Firoz said. "Yesterday (on Thursday), health officials collected samples from his father, Samir, and we were informed on Friday that the samples matched.
The hospital will complete the handover procedure by late tonight."
A resident of Sant Tukaram Nagar in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Irfan joined the aviation industry two years ago after completing a cabin crew training course at a private institute in Pune. He began his career with Air Vistara, working on domestic routes, and following the airline's merger with Air India, he was deployed on international flights.
Irfan's father, Samir, runs a small shop at Sant Tukaram Nagar, while his mother is a homemaker.
His elder brother, Amir, works in the IT sector.
The tragic crash claimed the lives of 241 out of 242 people on board. As many as 29 MBBS students of BJ Medical College also died in the accident when the plane struck the hostel complex.
The plane's black box, which includes the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder, was found on the rooftop of the mess building in the medical college campus.
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