Latest news with #DNAidentification
Khaleej Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
India 'working with UK' after Air India crash victims' families say 'wrong bodies' received
Two families in the UK of the Air India plane crash victims have claimed that the remains they have received are not of their kin. The Air India flight AI171 had 242 passengers on board when it crashed in the Indian city of Ahmedabad shortly after take off. Out of them, 52 were British nationals. The bodies of 12 of them were repatriated to the UK after DNA sampling in India. However, a Daily Mail report claims that remains of some of the victims were wrongly identified before being flown home. In response to the report, the Indian government said that it is "working closely with the UK side" after these issues were brought to its attention, according to ANI. The Indian government said that in the wake of the crash, the authorities had carried out "identification of victims as per established protocols and technical requirement". "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," said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs. In response to media queries regarding a report on the Air India crash, MEA Official Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says - "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 ofâ�¦ — ANI (@ANI) July 23, 2025 The Daily Mail reported that the issue emerged when Inner West London coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox sought to verify the repatriated Britons' identities by matching their DNA with samples provided by the families. Aviation lawyer James Healy-Pratt said that the remains of at least 12 have been repatriated. Though two instances of mistaken identity have so far come to light, there are fears that more such errors could have been made, the report said.
CBS News
22-07-2025
- CBS News
Eaton Fire death toll rises to 31 after human remains found in Altadena
The death toll for January's Eaton Fire has risen after human remains were discovered in Altadena, months after a pair of blazes destroyed homes and businesses in Los Angeles County. The County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner said in a news release that a crew responded to reports of human remains being discovered on Monday at the 10 block of La Venezia Court in Altadena. The crew later confirmed the findings as legitimate. As of Tuesday morning, the descendant has not been identified. It's not yet clear if the person was male or female. The medical examiner said it will release the identity of the person after notification of next of kin. The department uses a variety of scientific methods to identify the remains, including the use of dental records and DNA. With the new findings, the death toll for the Eaton Fire rose to 19, bringing the total of deaths from the January fires to 31. As many as 12 people died as a result of the Palisades Fire.
New York Times
04-07-2025
- Science
- New York Times
Vietnam Aches for Its M.I.A.'s. Will America Stop Funding Science to Identify Them?
The tombstones said 'unknown martyr.' The bones were decades old and covered in reddish mud, staining the white lab coats of a half-dozen visiting scientists. 'This tooth good?' asked a junior researcher, holding up a jawbone pulled from a grave. 'No, too decayed,' said his boss, an experienced geneticist. 'It has a copper dental crown.' The search for around 2,600 missing Americans from the Vietnam War has been a first-order issue for Washington and Hanoi ever since the conflict ended. But on that humid June afternoon in northern Vietnam, grave diggers with Ph.D.'s were gathering the bones of Vietnam's own missing warriors, whose ranks exceed one million, with an urgency and reverence befitting a task long overdue. The scientists were there to advance a recent breakthrough by putting it to use. A few months earlier, they and their partners — including the International Commission on Missing Persons, in The Hague — had figured out the chemistry and computing required to identify remains as badly degraded as those often found in Vietnam's acidic, tropical soil. For the first time, tiny snips of DNA taken from bones up to 70 years old could be used to link the country's fallen soldiers to distant relatives, unlocking lost truths and deeper healing. Families from Vietnam's north and south, their anguish still festering 50 years after the war ended, could find reconciliation in graves where their war dead lie together. Americans still unaccounted for might be found, too, as Vietnam's identification efforts expanded. Methods honed locally could also extend far beyond Vietnam, to help identify those lost to wildfires, typhoons or other natural disasters worldwide. 'Groundbreaking,' said Tim McMahon, director of DNA operations for the U.S. Defense Department. That's how he described the new methods of accounting for the lost, adding: 'It's the next jump in identification.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Khaleej Times
22-06-2025
- General
- Khaleej Times
More than 250 Air India plane crash victims identified
More than 250 people killed in an India plane crash have been identified through DNA testing, a hospital official said on Sunday as specialists near a final toll for one of the worst air disasters in decades. All but one of the 242 people on board the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner were killed when the Air India plane smashed into a residential area of Ahmedabad, where at least 38 more died. Such was the level of destruction that more than two dozen believed killed remain unidentified 10 days after the jet came down. "The results of the DNA sample matches for 251 have arrived," said Rakesh Joshi, medical superintendent at Ahmedabad's civil hospital. The remains of 245 of them have been handed to relatives and include 176 Indians, 49 British, seven Portuguese, one Canadian, and 12 identified publicly only as non-passengers. "In my opinion, the DNA matching process will soon be completed," Joshi said in a video message. "We are with the remaining families who will be informed by phone as soon as possible," he added. The remains of 26 victims were flown to their families, including 10 to the United Kingdom. Air India said Thursday the plane was "well-maintained" and that the pilots were accomplished flyers. Investigators have retrieved the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder for analysis, as they attempt to find out what caused the London-bound jet to hurtle to the ground moments after takeoff.
Khaleej Times
18-06-2025
- General
- Khaleej Times
More than 200 India plane crash victims identified
More than 200 victims of the Air India jet crash have been identified through DNA testing, Indian authorities said Wednesday, inching towards ending an agonising wait for relatives. There was one survivor out of 242 passengers and crew on board the London-bound plane on Thursday when it slammed into a residential area of Ahmedabad, killing at least 38 people on the ground. Distraught relatives have been providing DNA samples to help identify their loved ones, in a painstakingly slow process. "As of 2 pm, 202 DNA (samples) have been matched," Harsh Sanghavi, home minister of Ahmedabad's Gujarat state, wrote on X. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner erupted into a fireball when it crashed moments after takeoff, with witnesses reporting seeing badly burnt bodies and scattered remains. Indian authorities are yet to announce the cause of the crash and investigators from Britain and the United States have joined the probe. Investigators are aiming to retrieve vital information from both black boxes recovered from the site -- the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau upgraded a laboratory this year where black boxes can be analysed. Following the crash, the civil aviation regulator ordered inspections of Air India's Dreamliners. Initial checks on the fleet "did not reveal any major safety concerns", the regulator said late Tuesday. "The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards," it said.
