Air India crash: Protocols followed, says MEA after report claims British victims' remains bungled
The Daily Mail reported on Tuesday that the relatives of one victim had to abandon plans for a funeral after being told that their coffin contained the body of an unknown passenger. In another case, a family claimed to have received a casket with the 'commingled' remains of multiple persons.
The mix-up came to light when a coroner sought to verify the identities of the victims by matching their DNA samples with those provided by their families.
'Some have got the wrong remains and they are clearly distraught over this,' the Daily Mail quoted James Healy-Pratt, an aviation lawyer representing some of the relatives of those who died, as saying. 'It has been going on for a couple of weeks [and] I think these families deserve an explanation.'
In response to the report, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the government has been working with authorities in the United Kingdom 'from the moment these concerns and issues were brought to our attention'.
The spokesperson added: 'All mortal remains were handled with utmost professionalism and with due regard for the dignity of the deceased.'
The foreign ministry said that identification of victims was carried out 'as per established protocols and technical requirements'.
Our response to media queries regarding a report in the Daily Mail on the Air India crash⬇️
🔗 https://t.co/pTWIIMSBhi pic.twitter.com/IP9QgLNuz7
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) July 23, 2025
Two hundred and forty-two persons were aboard the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft – enroute to London's Gatwick airport from Ahmedabad – that crashed just 33 seconds after taking off on June 12. Only one passenger survived with ' impact injuries '.
The aircraft's crash into the hostel building of the BJ Medical College also killed at least 34 persons on the ground. This is being viewed as the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.
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