The repatriated remains of some British Air India crash victims have been misidentified, leaving grieving families struggling to say goodbye to their loved ones, a lawyer has said.
On June 12, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner en route to London collided with a medical college shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport, killing all 241 people on board.
Among the dead were 169 Indian passengers and 52 British citizens.
Aviation lawyer James Healy-Pratt, of Keystone Law, which represents more than 20 British families who lost relatives in the crash, said relatives of one victim had found “mixed” remains in a coffin, while another family had been told the body contained a completely different person.
Mr Healy-Pratt, a partner at the firm, said the errors arose after the “flawless efforts” of inner west London's senior coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox, who “discovered DNA anomalies” early in the repatriation.
“In the first two coffins that were repatriated, one of them had mixed DNA that was not related to the deceased in that coffin or the coffin that accompanied it, and that was what caused concern to her and her team that there was a serious problem,” he told the PA news agency.
“As far as I know, there was a mix-up early on, and that made Dr. Wilcox think that she needed to be 100% diligent in checking the identification of incoming remains.
“Then she was able to discover that one of her loved ones was not at all who the family thought he was.”
Families of three British victims buried in India after the crash have said there has been a “notable lack of transparency and accountability” in the process of identifying and repatriating the victims.
Relatives of Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannah Woraji and their four-year-old daughter Sarah Nanabawa issued a statement: “These recent events have only confirmed what many feared: that serious mistakes may have occurred and that the dignity and rights of the victims and their families were not adequately protected.”
“In our case, we are confident that we have the correct bodies based on the hospital's assurances, the autopsy reports, their clothing and personal belongings that we found.
But now our concern extends beyond ourselves. We are deeply concerned about what this means for other families who may still be seeking certainty and comfort.
“This is not
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
