Air India crash: Officials seek to identify the bodies of victims as death toll reaches 279
Three days after one of India's worst aviation disasters, questions remain, about why the Air India flight, bound for London, went down. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane, crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad. 241 people on board, as well as 38 on the ground were killed. Families are still waiting to receive the bodies of their loved ones, as the process of identifying them continues. Rebecca Bundhun reports from Ahmedabad.
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Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Heat of Air India crash hinders DNA identification, agonising relatives
Such temperatures are more than enough to incinerate bodies. PHOTO: REUTERS AHMEDABAD, India – The intensity of the flames from the crash of Air India Flight 171 has made the identification of passenger remains a mammoth task, medical officials in India said on June 15, as relatives of more than 200 victims waited outside a mortuary for a third day. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was carrying 125,000 liters, or more than 33,000 gallons, of fuel when it crashed on June 12, a full load for a nearly 10-hour flight from Ahmedabad, India, to Gatwick Airport near London. Senior health officials in Ahmedabad told a visiting delegation on June 14 that initial findings indicated that temperatures at the crash site had reached 1,500 deg C, according to two people who attended the briefing. Such temperatures are more than enough to incinerate bodies. Mr H.P. Sanghvi, director of the forensic lab where most of the DNA samples are being sent, told the Indian news media that the damage to the bodies made collection and testing difficult. 'These high temperatures affect the DNA present in various parts of the body,' he said. 'This process is very complex.' By June 15 evening, only 35 bodies had been turned over to relatives, among an overall official death toll of 270 from inside the plane and on the ground. Eight of the bodies, mostly of people killed at the medical school campus where the plane crashed, were identified and released on June 13. Others were given to relatives starting on June 14 evening, when DNA results began coming in. Among the victims identified through DNA tests by June 15 afternoon was Mr Vijay Rupani, who served as the state of Gujarat's top elected official until 2021, according to Mr Harsh Sanghavi, the home minister in Gujarat, where Ahmedabad is the largest city. In a sign of the damaged state of the bodies, the remains released to family members on June 15 were done so under tight security. Some family members said that officials had told them they were not allowed to open coffins, and that they had to move on with cremations and burials swiftly. Only one passenger among the 242 on board survived by making a miraculous escape. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Independent Singapore
7 hours ago
- Independent Singapore
‘How do I make her stop?' — Woman says her neighbour is ‘weird and demanding,' but she struggles to say no to their demands
SINGAPORE: A woman renting a dual-key studio apartment turned to Reddit to express her frustrations about a 'weird and demanding' neighbour who, she says, has repeatedly overstepped boundaries and disrupted her peace at home. Writing on r/askSingapore, she said the trouble started on the very day her neighbour, a middle-aged Chinese woman with a chihuahua, moved into the adjoining unit. According to her, the neighbour left so many boxes and bags in their shared foyer on move-in day that she couldn't even open her front door. With a Grab driver waiting downstairs, she had to call out several times before the neighbour finally appeared and casually asked if she needed to go out. 'I had to say 'Excuse me?' like 10 times before she came out and was like, 'Oh, do you need to go out?' So yeah… I climbed over boxes parkour style.' Things didn't improve in the days that followed. She said the neighbour started banging loudly on her door during the day to ask for things like 'ice and eggs' — seemingly unaware or just indifferent to the fact that she works night shifts and sleeps during the day. Although the disruptions were frustrating, the woman said she continued helping out in an effort to maintain a friendly relationship. She also shared that her neighbour made a number of odd and intrusive requests, including asking to tap into her WiFi, repeatedly requesting to store food in her fridge, and even wanting to take a look inside her unit. To make things worse, the neighbour regularly cooked food with such a strong and lingering smell that it would waft through and fill the entire shared foyer. 'My friends and family who came over said it smells like a dead rat. I asked her nicely to maybe do something…but she's delulu and says there's no smell.' Noise was another major problem. The neighbour would frequently vacuum or use a blender with her front door wide open, letting all the noise flood into the woman's unit. Despite being asked several times to close the door during those activities, the neighbour simply refused. The woman eventually installed soundproofing panels, but said they barely made a difference. She added that, on top of everything else, the neighbour repeatedly accused her of being messy and told her to clean up, but in reality, it was the neighbour who often left bulky items, such as shoe racks, dog prams, and storage boxes, cluttering the hallway. 'She clutters the whoooole hallway with God knows what. I don't complain. I get bad looks from the other neighbours 'cause they think it's mine, since my main door is shared with her and they see me come out from it.' 'Anyway, the whole 'throw your rubbish' thing—when she leaves out a whole box of recycling for weeks—was the final straw. I texted her a long message, asking that we respect each other's boundaries and just live our separate lives. That was less than a month ago.' 'Today, she texts and asks me if I can dogsit her dog while she's overseas. To feed him and take him for walks, and I don't know why I'm struggling to say no, 'cause the dog is innocent and cute. Help. How do I make her stop? Is she mad? Am I overdramatic?' 'You need to be firmer. And firmer…' In the comments, many Singaporean Redditors empathised with the woman and urged her to stand her ground. One Redditor bluntly said, 'She is crazy. You need to draw boundaries immediately, and that means refusing to entertain her crazy requests. That's not being unfriendly.' They went on to advise her to be more assertive moving forward, adding, 'Just say that you're busy and also start to tell her off whenever she does things that you consider inappropriate, e.g., leaving things outside, blocking the foyer, etc.' Another pointed out that part of the problem may have started because she didn't set limits early on. 'You didn't draw the line from the start and say no. Now, you can either be firm and say no. Or continue to bow down to her requests. It is up to you.' A third Redditor suggested escalating the issue if necessary. 'You need to be firmer. And firmer. And no more smiles,' they wrote. 'And things that crossed your line, like the dog sitting, immediately complain to the landlord agent. Keep this as black and white for validity to end the lease earlier.' In other news, a Singaporean employee recently shared online that his colleague abruptly quit after receiving what he felt were minor complaints. 'The first issue wasn't even his fault — it was a paperwork mix-up that's already been settled. Nobody got blamed, and it was resolved without drama,' he wrote. 'The second issue was that he forgot to take a photo of an item. Again, super minor—the customer could easily help us with the photo, and our company already said it's not a big deal. They just reminded him to be more careful next time.' Read also: SG worker wonders why his colleague overreacted to minor mistakes at work and resigned on the spot Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)
Straits Times
10 hours ago
- Straits Times
Relatives lament slow support, wait for remains after India crash
A burial ceremony for a victim of the Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad on June 15. PHOTO: AFP AHMEDABAD, India - More than three days after giving a DNA sample, Imtiyaz Ali is enduring an anguished wait to receive the remains of his brother who died in the Air India crash. 'My 72 hours are over, but I've not heard from them so far,' Mr Ali said in Ahmedabad, where relatives of victims have gathered since the air disaster. All but one of the 242 people on board the plane died on June 12 when it slammed into a residential area, where at least 38 others were killed. Health officials have said the process of matching blood samples with the DNA of victims will be slow, with just 47 identified by June 15 evening. Mr Ali, whose brother Javed was killed alongside his wife and two children, said he understood the delay and was more frustrated with the airline's response. 'With Air India, the next day after this accident they should have appointed whoever they needed to ensure everything is available to us,' such as help with paperwork, he told AFP on June 15. 'Whatever it took, they should have done it within hours of the accident,' he said, a day after being appointed a support person by the airline. Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said 'over 200 trained caregivers are now in place, with each family assigned dedicated assistance', in a video message on June 14. The airline directed AFP to earlier statements about its response to the crash when asked to comment on the criticism from families. 'What happens next?' While some funerals have already been held, the majority of grieving relatives are still waiting for a DNA match before remains are handed over from the mortuary. Rinal Christian, whose elder brother was on the flight, said her family keeps returning to the hospital but they have been told to wait. 'They said it would take 48 hours. But it's been four days and we haven't received any response,' the 23-year-old told AFP. Her brother Lawrence Christian had travelled to Ahmedabad from his home in London after his father died. 'After my father, my brother was the sole breadwinner of the family. I'm still studying, my mother doesn't work, and we have our grandmother too. So what happens next?' asked his sister. Air India and its parent company Tata Group have announced financial aid, amounting to US$146,000 (S$187,000) for each family, but Ms Christian said she has not heard from the airline. With some in Ahmedabad mourning those who supported their families, parents are also confronting the loss of children. Suresh Patni, a driver, had just dropped his teenage son off at his wife's tea stall when the plane hit. She was severely injured, with burns and nerve damage, and Mr Patni has been unable to tell her their son was killed. 'She won't be able to handle it... I've already lost one, I can't risk losing her too,' he said. While watching over his wife, Mr Patni is among those still waiting for his son's remains to be found. 'As soon as our number comes, they'll call us, ask us to come, and then hand over the body.' AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
