Body mix-up piles on the agony for AI crash families

Mumbai: Ten days after they lost their kin in the Mangalore crash, twelve families, including that of flight attendant Sujata Survase, were told on Wednesday that they will not be able to perform last rites on the dead as the bodies had been "mistakenly" handed over to other families.
Hundred and fifty-eight people died when Air India flight IX812 from Dubai to Mangalore crashed while landing at Mangalore's Bajpe Airport. Many of the bodies were charred but twelve of them were rendered unrecognisable.
Twelve families who couldn't identify their own asked for DNA tests which have now revealed that none of the unidentified bodies belong to them. "I was informed by the Air India authorities that by mistake somebody else has taken away my daughter's body and cremated it.
Sujata's brother, Sumit, who flew to Mangalore on Wednesday morning to finish paperwork as asked by the authorities, consoled himself by attending the cremation of other victims there and sharing the grief of their families.
Air India learnt of the anomaly only after it was left with 12 unidentified bodies whose DNA test did not match with the families waiting to receive the bodies of their dear ones.
Chellam Prasad, Manager, Air India (Mangalore), told this newspaper, " The twelve bodies have been buried on Wednesday as they were unidentified.
The families who were waiting for the results of DNA test in Mangalore attended the burial of these bodies on humanitarian grounds. The bodies related to these twelve families were taken away by other victims' families by mistake."
03/06/10 Preety Acharya/Ahmedabad Mirror

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Air India Budget Jun 2010, Airports Jun 2010, NACIL Jun 2010, Safety Jun 2010