Air India plane crash: Families in Ahmedabad endure agonising wait for victims' bodies
They have gathered in the scorching summer heat outside the morgue in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and crane their necks to get a glimpse of the next stretcher carrying a body bag to a waiting ambulance.
The process for identifying bodies after the Air India plane crash is painstaking and some have been burnt beyond recognition. All but one of the 242 people on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner died.
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DNA samples are being matched with relatives, but patience is running thin.
The wait for Lila Behan is agonising. She wails and cries, longing to see her grandson Akash one last time.
She tells Sky News that he was outside when the aircraft crashed into their quarters.
There was fire all around, her daughter-in-law Sita ran towards the flames and got severely burned. She's fighting for her life in the hospital's intensive care unit.
"I can't even see my child's face now, they said he's so severely burnt. But I just want to see him for one last time," she says.
Anand Thanki lost three members of his extended family, including an infant. All were British nationals from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.
His sister-in-law Raxa had travelled to India with her daughter-in-law Yasha and infant grandson Rudra for a religious ceremony.
Raxa lost her husband to cancer two months ago and this was a ritual she needed to perform.
Anand tells Sky News: "It's a big loss, but what can we do? We can only blame our fate, it's probably written for us.
"Worst was for my nephew who had dropped them at the airport, returned home and heard the news of the incident."
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited the crash site and assessed the situation.
He knows the city well, it's personal for him.
He has been a legislator for over a decade and previously served as the chief minister of the state of Gujarat.
At the crash site, he walked around debris and the block of flats which were in the flight path of the plane.
The aircraft began losing altitude and within minutes of take-off, it plummeted to the ground, erupting in a fireball.
At the hospital, Mr Modi met Vishwash Kumar Ramesh - the only person to escape the aircraft. He spoke of his miraculous escape.
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The scale of the tragedy has been compounded by its location. The plane came down right in the heart of a built-up neighbourhood, with the front of the aircraft crashing into residential quarters for medical students.
The wheels and tail of the plane are embedded in the top floor of one of the buildings, where many had gathered for lunch in a dining hall.
Plates are still on tables - evidence that residents were eating when the aircraft tore through.
There were at least 23 victims on the ground, including students, doctors and family members. Some are in a critical condition.
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The cause of the crash remains unknown. Investigators will now begin the long and complex process of establishing what went wrong.
But many families will grapple with the unimaginable loss after one of the worst disasters in India's aviation history.
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Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Grieving mother of Air India crash victim is dealt agonising blow after being sent the WRONG body
A grieving mother whose son died in the Air India plane disaster travelled thousands of miles to collect his remains - only to be sent home with the wrong body. Amanda Donaghey lost her son Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, 39, and his husband, Jamie, 45, when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London Gatwick crashed just seconds after takeoff on June 12 - claiming the lives of 260 people. The couple had been returning to Britain after celebrating their wedding anniversary in India when the plane unexpectedly crashed, killing all but one passenger onboard. The aircraft had turned into a huge fireball on impact but Ms Donaghey, 66, was determined to bring back her son's remains, handing over a sample of her blood in a bid to find matching DNA, The Sunday Times reports. Things did not look promising, however, and three days came and went without a word from officials handling the bodies. In the meantime, Jamie's remains were identified and sent home to the UK. But just as the mother was losing hope, they got back to her with news that there had been a 'match' for Fiongal. Ms Donaghey was relieved - the discovery meant she could bring her son's remains back and lay them next to his husband's. The family set about organising funerals for the two men with the mother assured on her return to the UK that Fiongal's remains were in the casket. Then, a heartbreaking development. The British coroner had conducted another DNA test which found that the remains in her son's coffin were not his after all. Ms Donaghey said that the identity of the remains is still unknown, describing the confusion as 'appalling'. Fiongal studied at the Royal College of Art and went on to work as a fashion designer, fronting design houses in London and Asia. He then got into sprituality, yoga and reiki and established the Wellness Foundry, dedicated to such topics, in 2018. The business founder married Jamie in 2022 and had taken to social media to describe their 'magical experience' in India the night before they caught the fateful flight. They even posted a short clip from the airport departure lounge just hours ahead of the journey back, which would see them sit in seats 22A and 22B, bidding farewell to the country. His mother was not aware he was on the plane, believing Fiongal to have flown back to the UK two days prior. After taking a ride on her horse, she got a phone call from Fiongal's father who told her the pair had been travelling back on the aircraft. Two days later, Ms Donaghey took a tricky trip to India from her home in the south of France, where she had moved 22 years ago. She was greeted by a British High Commission crisis management team on her arrival in Ahmedabad in Gujarat. Despite being exhausted, the mother headed straight to the nearby Civil Hospital to take a DNA test in a converted classroom. Ms Donaghey then paid a visit BJ Medical College hostel, which had been hit by the Air India plane, but was not allowed to go through the final cordon as the aircraft's tail was still lodged in a building there. 'It was like a bomb site,' she said. 'You would think it was from a war scene, but there were still these small birds twittering.' Also out there was Miten Patel who was determined to bring home his parents Ashok and Shobhana, who had been married since the 70s. The financial advisor and retired microbiologist had been in the country for a yatra, a religious visit geared towards helping people to find peace when they die. Ashok and Shobhana, pictured, had been married since the 70s and were in the country for a yatra, a religious visit geared towards helping people to find peace when they die Mr Patel was handed several of his parents' items including Ashok's shirt and Shobhana's swan necklace. After successfully retrieving the couple's remains, he later discovered 'other remains' in the casket said to contain his mother's body. He was finally able to bury her last week, describing the successful end to the process as a 'miracle'. Ms Donaghey has been going through a similar ordeal, but one that remains unresolved. After initially being informed of the 'match' on June 20, she spoke with the British High Commission and hospital representatives, as well as an Avon and Somerset Police officer, acting as a disaster victim investigator. She said: 'I was told they had found part of Fiongal but not all of him. I said I wanted to stay until they had finished looking.' But on her return to the crash site, Ms Donaghey was handed the devastating news that there was nothing left to be found in the wreckage. Things took an even more concerning turn when she was told about Shobhana's case, which had seen various remains get mixed up. On June 28, she headed back to Gatwick on an Air India flight in a bid to get Fiongal's remains to a British hospital with better preserving standards than those in India. They were handed over to Dr Fiona Wilcox, senior coroner for Inner West London, and in the meantime Ms Donaghey was given support by her sister in Cambridgeshire, as well as police family liaison officers. Six days after her return, the mother was handed the heart-wrenching news that the remains in her son's coffin were not his at all. At a meeting attended by Fiongal's father, sister and brother, family liaison officers said: 'We don't have Fiongal. We have carried out the DNA tests and we do not have Fiongal.' Amanda said: 'I had my doubts but to be told that was heartbreaking.' Despite realising that their ambition to bury Fiongal and Jamie alongside one another was now impossible, Ms Donaghey and her family have not given up on trying to locate his remains, ringing the Foreign Office each day looking for answers. Some 53 of the 242 people on the ill-fated flight were British but, as many were of Indian heritage and thus buried in the country of the crash, just 12 sets of remains were delivered back to the UK. The remaining 10 were all matches, but it is still not known for sure whether the identities of the bodies that stayed in India are correct. James Healy-Pratt, an international aviation lawyer and partner with Keystone Law, is representing 20 bereaved families and confirmed they were in contact with Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister's office and Foreign Secretary David Lammy. A government spokesperson said: 'We understand that this is an extremely distressing time for the families, and our thoughts remain with them. Formal identification of bodies is a matter for the Indian authorities. 'We continue to liaise with the government of Gujarat and the government of India on behalf of the Inner West London senior coroner to support the coronial process.'
BreakingNews.ie
8 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Mother of Air India crash victim ‘heartbroken' after remains wrongly identified
The mother of a British Air India crash victim has said her family is 'heartbroken' after receiving news the remains of her son were wrongly identified, The Sunday Times reported. The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a medical college shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport on June 12th, killing 241 people on board. Advertisement Some 169 Indian passengers and 52 British nationals were killed, making it one of the deadliest plane crashes in terms of the number of British fatalities. Among the British victims were Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek (39) and his husband Jamie (45), who had been returning to Britain after celebrating their wedding anniversary in India. Mr Greenlaw-Meek's mother, Amanda Donaghey, told The Sunday Times she flew to India after the crash in order to find her son's remains, providing a DNA sample at Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital to assist the identification process. Following a match on June 20th, she returned to the UK with Mr Greenlaw-Meek's coffin. Advertisement But on July 5th, as Mr Greenlaw-Meek and his husband's families prepared to bury the married couple together, police told Ms Donaghey that DNA tests carried out in the UK showed Mr Greenlaw-Meek's remains were not in the coffin. 'We don't know what poor person is in that casket,' she told The Sunday Times. 'I had my doubts but to be told that was heartbreaking. 'This is an appalling thing to have happened,' she added. Advertisement 'And we would now like the British Gvernment to do everything in its power to find out, and bring Fiongal home.' It was revealed last week the coffin of another repatriated British victim, 71-year-old Shobhana Patel, contained remains of multiple people, The Sunday Times reported. Mrs Patel was killed alongside her husband Ashok (74) as they returned to the UK from a Hindu religious trip. Their son Miten Patel told The Sunday Times: 'There may have been a mistake done. Advertisement 'But for religious reasons we need to make sure my mother is my mother and not somebody else's remains. 'Knowing 100% that it is my mum is very important to us.' Shobhana and Ashok Patel were laid to rest last week, The Sunday Times said. Prime minister of India Narendra Modi (left) with British prime minister Keir Starmer. Photo: Kin Cheung/PA International aviation lawyer James Healey-Pratt, whose firm Keystone Law is representing families of victims of the Air India crash, has told Times Radio the identification issues have raised concerns over the total number of victims whose identities may have been misattributed. Advertisement 'We know that 12 caskets were repatriated from India to the UK,' he said. 'Of those 12, two had been mishandled, misidentified. 'And so if you extrapolate that sample, you're looking at 40 mishandled remains out of 240. 'So that's a very large number, but we simply don't know. 'And to date, the Indian authorities have not been transparent or helpful about that, which is why there was pressure put on by the families to the FCO and the Prime Minister's office. 'And this was actually mentioned in the meeting at Chequers between Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Modi on Thursday. 'So the families are waiting to hear, first thing next week, about what actions are really being done in India to provide some degree of assurance.' It is understood no blame is being put on any UK agency for the blunders, Mr Healy-Pratt previously told the PA news agency. The only surviving passenger on the plane was Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who previously told The Sun it was a 'miracle' he was alive but felt 'terrible' he could not save his brother Ajay. A preliminary report into the incident from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau found both of the plane's fuel switches moved to the 'cut-off' position 'immediately' after take-off, stopping fuel supply to the engine. It has sparked questions over whether the crash was deliberate.
The Independent
8 hours ago
- The Independent
Mother of Air India crash victim ‘heartbroken' after remains wrongly identified
The mother of a British Air India crash victim has said her family is 'heartbroken' after receiving news the remains of her son were wrongly identified, The Sunday Times reported. The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a medical college shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport on June 12, killing 241 people on board. Some 169 Indian passengers and 52 British nationals were killed, making it one of the deadliest plane crashes in terms of the number of British fatalities. Among the British victims were Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, 39, and his husband Jamie, 45, who had been returning to Britain after celebrating their wedding anniversary in India. Mr Greenlaw-Meek's mother, Amanda Donaghey, told The Sunday Times she flew to India after the crash in order to find her son's remains, providing a DNA sample at Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital to assist the identification process. Following a match on June 20 last year, she returned to the UK with Mr Greenlaw-Meek's coffin. But on July 5, as Mr Greenlaw-Meek and his husband's families prepared to bury the married couple together, police told Ms Donaghey that DNA tests carried out in the UK showed Mr Greenlaw-Meek's remains were not in the coffin. 'We don't know what poor person is in that casket,' she told The Sunday Times. 'I had my doubts but to be told that was heartbreaking. 'This is an appalling thing to have happened,' she added. 'And we would now like the British Gvernment to do everything in its power to find out, and bring Fiongal home.' It was revealed last week the coffin of another repatriated British victim, 71-year-old Shobhana Patel, contained remains of multiple people, The Sunday Times reported. Mrs Patel was killed alongside her husband Ashok, 74, as they returned to the UK from a Hindu religious trip. Their son Miten Patel told The Sunday Times: 'There may have been a mistake done. 'But for religious reasons we need to make sure my mother is my mother and not somebody else's remains. 'Knowing 100% that it is my mum is very important to us.' Shobhana and Ashok Patel were laid to rest last week, The Sunday Times said. International aviation lawyer James Healey-Pratt, whose firm Keystone Law is representing families of victims of the Air India crash, has told Times Radio the identification issues have raised concerns over the total number of victims whose identities may have been misattributed. 'We know that 12 caskets were repatriated from India to the UK,' he said. 'Of those 12, two had been mishandled, misidentified. 'And so if you extrapolate that sample, you're looking at 40 mishandled remains out of 240. 'So that's a very large number, but we simply don't know. 'And to date, the Indian authorities have not been transparent or helpful about that, which is why there was pressure put on by the families to the FCO and the Prime Minister's office. 'And this was actually mentioned in the meeting at Chequers between Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Modi on Thursday. 'So the families are waiting to hear, first thing next week, about what actions are really being done in India to provide some degree of assurance.' It is understood no blame is being put on any UK agency for the blunders, Mr Healy-Pratt previously told the PA news agency. The only surviving passenger on the plane was Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who previously told The Sun it was a 'miracle' he was alive but felt 'terrible' he could not save his brother Ajay. A preliminary report into the incident from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau found both of the plane's fuel switches moved to the 'cut-off' position 'immediately' after take-off, stopping fuel supply to the engine. It has sparked questions over whether the crash was deliberate.
