Ahmedabad plane crash: Endless wait for kin of victims to get mortal remains

Ahmedabad: Amid the trauma of losing their loved ones, it is a long wait for the families of several victims of the Air India plane crash as they continue to camp here for four days in the hope of getting the mortal remains of their kin.

They were among the first ones to submit their samples for DNA tests on June 12, the day the horrific incident occurred, so that they could be matched with the deceased.

They were asked to wait for 72 hours, but the deadline got over on Sunday and the wait seems endless.

Health authorities here have asked the distraught family members not to panic, while experts said the DNA samples matching could take time, given the large number of fatalities in the crash.

“We visited the DNA collection centre yesterday but were told that our samples were yet to be matched,” Pooja Sukhadare, a relative of crew member Roshni Songhare, said on Monday.

Sukhadare has been here since the tragedy with the father and brother of Songhare, whose family resides at Dombivli in Maharashtra’s Thane district.

Similar is the case for crew member Maithili Patil’s relatives, who are residents of Nhava in Navi Mumbai and arrived here on June 12 after the accident.

Relatives of 32-year-old Anil Khimani, who did masonry and carpentry work in Gujarat’s Kutch and was on board the ill-fated flight, have also been camping in Ahmedabad following the incident.

Since the plane crashed on June 12, his father is here, said Mansukh, who identified himself as a relative of Khimani. His father gave his sample for DNA matching on June 12.

“An ambulance, assigned by the government to take back the body, has also arrived from Kutch, but we are yet to get Anil’s mortal remains,” Mansukh said.

Even the family of Akash Patni (15) is waiting for his body.

He was resting on a charpoy next to the tea stall run by his mother in the residential complex premises of the B J Medical College where the aircraft crashed.

The impact of the crash and subsequent fire was such that Patni got no time to escape and was charred.

“We got a call from the hospital yesterday that the DNA samples have matched, but we are yet to get the body,” Akash’s aunt Madhuben Patni said.

Till Monday afternoon, the Ahmedabad civil hospital authorities said 99 victims have been identified through DNA testing and 64 bodies handed over to the victims. WITH PTI INPUTS