Ahmedabad: An unexpected detail of surgical implants like metal rods, plates, and pins aided the doctors at the civil hospital in their harrowing task of identifying victims of the doomed Air India flight where many bodies were charred beyond recognition.
BJP MLA Hasmukh Patel, a medical doctor with years of private practice, found himself thrust into the frontlines of this identification effort of the victims.
He was among the first legislators to reach the post-mortem section of the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, where the remains were being brought.
"Considering the magnitude of the accident, it was evident that identification was going to be difficult," Dr Patel told PTI.
Upon his arrival, seven to eight bodies, all "completely charred," had already reached the post-mortem section.
He described the scene, noting that some bodies were so severely burnt that "parts of them were coming off."
He, along with other volunteers, immediately began the process of tagging bodies with cotton tape, marking the sequence of their arrival time on any available body part—head, chest, or arm.
Under normal circumstances, identification is done based on physical traits such as hair or ornaments. However, with the aircraft's internal temperature reaching over 1000 degrees Celsius, such markers were obliterated.
While tagging the victims, Dr Patel and his team made a crucial observation. "We soon observed that although some bodies were charred, we could make out that some of the victims had undergone knee replacement surgeries and some had (surgical) plates, rods inserted in their bodies for medical reasons. We noted down these characteristics along with the tags," he explained.
This discovery proved invaluable, and as the families began to pour in, desperate for news, they were asked for basic details about the victims.
The unique surgical implants, carefully noted during the initial tagging, became vital clues, significantly aiding in the DNA-matching process.
For Dr Patel, who has been part of the BJP for nearly two decades, this experience was not entirely new as he had been part of the medical team when the 1988 crash of the Indian Airlines flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad happened, killing 133 people.
As a second-year student at B.J.M Medical College — incidentally, the same site where the June 12 crash victims were brought — he volunteered to tag bodies with his classmates in 1988.
Dr Patel, an MD in Pathology, described both incidents as "heart-rending" and said that despite his medical training, the emotional toll was immense.
"I was unable to sleep for a week after the June 12 incident. I was active physically, but then I would have issues sleeping due to the horrific nature of the incident. As a doctor, I have been trained to handle such situations, but this was different, just like the previous air crash in 1988," he said.
A London-bound Air India flight crashed into a hostel complex in the Meghaninagar area moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on the afternoon of June 12, killing 270 persons, including 241 on board.
One passenger survived.
Last week, the hospital authorities said bodies were being handed over to the families only after the DNA match.
Officials on Sunday said 251 victims have been identified through DNA tests so far, and 245 bodies have been handed over to families.