Ahmedabad Plane Crash: 32 Bodies Including Former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani Identified, 14 Handed over to Family

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, June 15: Amidst chaotic scenes at the Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital with family members of the Air India plane crash victims crowding up in hope of at least finding the mortal remains of their loved ones, the identity of the former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has been confirmed through DNA testing, three days after the catastrophic crash on Thursday afternoon.

The test results came in at 11:10 am on Sunday. Mr Rupani’s body will be taken from Ahmedabad to Rajkot by a chartered plane for last rites in his home town.

The authorities at the civil hospital are facing unforeseen challenges in the process of victim identification as the deadly crash that spared only one passenger and killing all the remaining 229 passengers, including 68-year old Mr Rupani, and all the 12 crew members besides at least 33 people on the ground, many of them medical students.

Relatives of deceased were seen gathering at an emergency centre to give DNA samples so their loved ones could be identified. In a particularly tough situation, two heads were discovered in a body bag, resulting in the need to redo the entire DNA testing process, which takes approximately 72 hours.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, operating as flight AI171, crashed moments after take-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on June 12. The aircraft came down within seconds of going airborne, crashing into the BJ Medical College building in the civil hospital campus in the Meghaninagar locality, just over a kilometre from the airport runway. A fireball followed the impact, severely damaging the hostel building and killing multiple persons on the ground, including several MBBS students. As of Sunday, 32 victims have been identified, and the bodies of 14 have been returned to their families.

Mr Rupani had initially intended to travel to London on May 19. That ticket was later cancelled. He rescheduled for June 5 but subsequently cancelled that too. He finally booked a seat on the June 12 flight, the ill-fated AI171. The manifest listed him in a business class seat 2D. He was reportedly flying to London to meet his wife and daughter who were staying in London for some time. The CMO officials were at the civil hospital in the city to coordinate the transportation of his mortal remains. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met his family members during his visit to the state, a day after the crash took place.

A man in the civil hospital mortuary was seen urging officials to give him all the remains of his family members for the last rites. However, he was told that this request was not feasible. “It was hard to convince him,” the official said.

Outside the post-mortem room of the 1,200-bed Civil Hospital, where health department staff have stored body bags for DNA analysis, distressed relatives cling to hope that the officials will manage to recover all the remains of each victim.

“We have an established clinical protocol which includes placing the remains in body bags, transferring them to cold storage, conducting analysis and finally handing over the identified remains in coffins to the families. We cannot assure the families of retrieval of complete body parts of the victims as the remains are charred,” officials said.

The authorities at Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital issued a checklist of “dos and don’ts” for the relatives of the deceased. It also mentioned ‘quick procedure’ of the handover of the mortal remains. Air India will assist in transporting the bodies by flight. Coordination for this is necessary. Free transport will be provided for those who wish to take the mortal remains by road.

The Centre has set up a high-level multi-disciplinary committee headed by the union home secretary to examine the causes of the plane crash and also suggest comprehensive guidelines to prevent such incidents in the future. The Civil Aviation Ministry said the committee will not be a substitute for other enquiries being conducted by relevant organisations.

The panel “will focus on formulating SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for preventing and handling such occurrences in the future” and will publish its report in three months, the Ministry said.