The repatriation of Britons killed in the Air India disaster has been horrifically bungled, reports the Daily Mail.
Bereaved families are enduring fresh anguish after the remains of their loved ones were wrongly identified before being flown home.
In one heartbreaking case, relatives were forced to abandon funeral plans after being told their coffin contained an unknown passenger rather than their family member.
In another distressing incident, the “commingled” remains of multiple victims were mistakenly placed in the same casket and had to be separated before burial could proceed last weekend.
The shocking errors came to light when Inner West London coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox began verifying the identities of the repatriated Britons by matching DNA samples provided by families.
A top-level inquiry is now underway in London and India, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer expected to raise the issue with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his state visit to Britain this week.
While two cases of mistaken identity have been confirmed, fears persist that more errors may have occurred, leaving families trapped in uncertainty.
Of the 261 people who died when Air India flight 171 crashed seconds after leaving Ahmedabad for London Gatwick, 52 were British citizens. Some victims were cremated or buried in India in line with religious customs, but aviation lawyer James Healy-Pratt, representing many British families, says the remains of at least 12 have been repatriated.
Mr Healy-Pratt, appointed to investigate the disaster—caused by the Dreamliner’s fuel supply being switched off either intentionally or accidentally according to a preliminary report—is now focusing on the bungled identification process.
“I’ve been sitting down in the homes of these lovely British families over the last month, and the first thing they want is their loved ones back,” he told the Mail. “But some of them have got the wrong remains and they are clearly distraught over this. It has been going on for a couple of weeks (and) I think these families deserve an explanation.”
While one family whose remains were commingled managed to separate them and hold a funeral, another group—referred to as Family X—has been left “in limbo.”
“Family X have no-one to bury because it was the wrong person in their casket. And if it isn’t their relative, the question is, who is it in that coffin? Presumably it’s another passenger and their relatives have been given the wrong remains. The coroner also has a problem because she has an unidentified person in her jurisdiction,” Mr Healy-Pratt added.
The lawyer is now working to uncover the full chain of events from recovery of the bodies from the jet’s wreckage to their arrival in Britain.
British families arriving in India in the disaster’s aftermath on June 12 were outraged by the chaotic ground operation and feared misidentification risks. One relative condemned the “lack of transparency and oversight in the identification and handling of remains,” calling for a British-run identification unit to be deployed.
“Our loved ones were British citizens. They deserved better in life. They certainly deserved better in death,” was a bitter refrain.
Recovery efforts, led by Ahmedabad police, fire departments and state disaster response teams, began soon after the crash into a medical hostel and nearby homes. They used sniffer dogs, high-tech equipment, and volunteers to sift through the smouldering wreckage.
Although most remains were recovered within three days, many were badly burned or fragmented by the crash’s force.
“On the known evidence, the chain of custody of these lost loved ones was unacceptably poor,” said Mr Healy-Pratt. “We are investigating the causes of those failures and demanding answers on behalf of these deserving British families.”
Formal responses are awaited from Air India and their emergency contractors, Kenyons International Emergency Services. Families are also liaising directly with MPs, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and top government officials ahead of Premier Modi’s visit to London.
Government sources confirm British disaster victim identification experts were sent to Ahmedabad to support the UK consular response and understand local processes for victim identification and mortuary operations.
These experts have provided information to coroner Dr Wilcox, who opened and adjourned inquests into 12 deaths on July 10.
A government spokesperson said: “Formal identification of bodies is a matter for the Indian authorities. We understand that this is an extremely distressing time for the families, and our thoughts remain with them.”