Remains of 210 Ahmedabad Plane Crash Victims Returned to Families

 Remains of 210 Ahmedabad Plane Crash Victims Returned to Families

Eight days after the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad, officials have identified 231 of the victims through DNA testing and have returned the remains of 210 to their grieving families.

Dr. Rakesh Joshi, Medical Superintendent at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, confirmed the update on Friday. “We’ve matched DNA samples and informed the families. So far, the remains of 210 victims have been handed over,” he said.

The victims include 166 Indian nationals, 36 from the UK, seven from Portugal, and one Canadian. Among the Indian casualties, 155 were passengers on the doomed flight.

The final death toll has not yet been officially confirmed by the state government. Authorities had earlier stated that DNA had been collected from 250 deceased individuals — a number that includes not only those on the plane but also people on the ground who lost their lives when the aircraft crashed into a densely populated residential area.

The crash occurred on June 12 when a London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner went down just minutes after takeoff, slamming into homes and causing widespread destruction. Of the 242 people onboard, 241 died. The only survivor is currently undergoing treatment. Several people on the ground, including four medical students from B.J. Medical College, also lost their lives.

Due to the condition of many of the bodies — which were either badly burned or otherwise unrecognizable — authorities have relied heavily on DNA analysis to identify the victims. The process, though painstaking, has provided some measure of closure to the families now receiving their loved ones' remains.