Indian Govt Sent British Families of Air India Crash Victims 'Wrong Bodies'; MEA Responds to Reports
Representative image. Members of the Indian Medical Association and Ahmedabad Medical Association pay tribute to the victims of the Air India plane crash, in Ahmedabad, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. Photo: PTI
New Delhi: British news outlets have reported that grieving families of those killed in the Air India plane crash in Gujarat in June have been sent by wrong bodies by the Indian government – a claim that the Indian Ministry of External Affairs has not denied in its official response.
Reports on the Daily Mail and The Times noted that British prime minister Keir Starmer is expected to discuss the case with prime minister Narendra Modi when the latter makes a state visit to Britain this week. The former also reported that a "top-level inquiry into the scandal" is underway in India and England.
Fifty two of the 241 people killed in the 242-passenger Air India flight bound for London's Gatwick on June 12 were British citizens. Nineteen others, who were in and around the building into which the plane crashed, were also killed.
The reports, including on the British Telegraph, noted that the remains of a number of British victims were "wrongly identified before they were flown home."
The relatives of a victim abandoned funeral plans after allegedly being told that the coffin contained a different – and unidentified – passenger's body, the Daily Mail reported.
Daily Mail further reported that the remains of more than one person killed in the crash were "commingled in a single coffin" and "had to be separated before the funeral could go ahead."
The errors were reportedly identified by Fiona Wilcox, the Inner West London coroner, who had to compare DNA from the bodies with samples given by the victims' families.
"Though two instances of mistaken identity have so far come to light, there are fears that more such errors could have been made, leaving families under a shadow of uncertainty," the Daily Mail report said.
The victims' families are represented by a lawyer, James Healy-Pratt, who told the news outlets that the mistakes had left the families 'distraught'.
Healy-Pratt said that this confusion has been prevailing for the last two weeks. To The Telegraph, he said that the question also is that if it "isn't their relative...who is it in that coffin?"
Most crash victims whose families are in India have been cremated or buried soon after their bodies were recovered, in accordance with religious customs.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, in his response to the reports today, said that India is working with UK authorities to address concerns on this. Jaiswal also claimed that the authorities had carried out identification of victims "as per established protocols and technical requirements."
His statement said:
"We have seen the report 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 . 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."
Lawyer Healy-Pratt also told Telegraph that the family who received the wrong body had been left 'in limbo' and that the coroner also "has a problem because she has an unidentified person in her jurisdiction.'
The Times reported that Healy-Pratt is seeking formal responses from Air India and its emergency response contractor, Kenyon International Emergency Services. The families are in contact with their respective MPs and the UK's Foreign Office.
One of the family members of three victims is quoted by Telegraph as having said that they were not "allowed to" look at the remains. "They just said, 'This is your mother or father,' and gave us a paper label with an ID number on it. We had to take their word for it," said Blackburn-resident Altaf Taju who lost his parents and brother-in-law. Taju's family members were buried in India, so he was not affected by the mix-up.
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