India on Wednesday responded to a report by a UK publication claiming that the remains of some British victims of the June 12 Air India crash in Ahmedabad were wrongly identified before repatriation.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal 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. All mortal remains were handled with utmost professionalism and with due regard for the dignity of the deceased.”
He added that Indian authorities are continuing to coordinate with their British counterparts to address any ongoing concerns.
The Daily Mail, a tabloid newspaper published in the UK, cited an aviation lawyer representing several families, who said grieving relatives in the UK were informed of grave errors in the identification of bodies. One family had to cancel funeral plans after discovering that the coffin delivered to them contained the remains of an unidentified passenger, the report alleged.
In another case, remains of more than one victim were reportedly placed in a single casket and had to be separated before burial, Daily Mail claimed.
The alleged mistakes apparently came to light during identity verification conducted by Inner West London coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox, who used DNA samples provided by the families.
The Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner had crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad, killing 241 people onboard, including 52 British nationals. Another 19 people on the ground were also killed, and 67 were seriously injured.
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A preliminary report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), released on July 10, said both of the aircraft’s fuel switches were found in the cut-off position immediately after takeoff—cutting off fuel supply to the engines and leading to the crash.
The controversy comes just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK, where he is expected to meet his counterpart Keir Starmer to sign a much-anticipated free trade agreement.
