In Maharashtra, two crew members of the crashed aircraft Deepak Pathak and Irfan Sheikh were given an emotional farewell by their relatives and friends at Pimpri-Chinchwad near Badlapur and Pune city in Thane district respectively. Officials said that so far, a total of 247 dead have been identified by DNA matching and 232 bodies have been handed over to their families.
Air India flight to London crashed only after a few minutes of flying from AI-171, Ahmedabad Airport. A total of 242 people were aboard the plane. Only one person survived the plane in the accident. 29 people were also killed at the Medical College campus in Meghani town where the plane crashed.
Many bodies were so burned that they could not be identified, so officials are matching DNA samples to identify the losers of the horrific tragedy. However, an official said that the families of eight dead have been asked to give a sample of another relative for DNA testing, as the first relative sample was not matched.
Ahmedabad Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent Rakesh Joshi told PTI that the body could not be handed over to the relatives till DNA was matched. He said, “When a long matching is not possible, you can ask for another sample from another relative. If a sibling has given a sample, a sample of another siblings is asked to match the deceased’s DNA.”
Joshi said, “We usually prioritize the father or son/daughter sample. If their sample does not match, we take a sample of any other available member.” However, he made it clear that a brother or sister sample matches in the process. He said there are at least eight families whose first template does not match, so it was asked for the second sample.
Joshi said, “By Saturday evening, 247dNA samples have been matched. Relatives of the dead have been contacted. So far, the remains of 232 dead have been handed over to their relatives. The process is underway.
Meanwhile, the matching of DNA samples has confirmed that filmmaker Jirawala died in a plane crash. He said that 34-year-old Jirawala was passing through the area on his two-wheeler while the hostel on the Medical College plane on his way to London was crashed.
Joint Police Commissioner of Sector 2, Jaipal Singh Rathore, said that DNA tests confirmed that since the family members of Jirawala still could not believe this, the police have collected CCTV footage of the road and their burnt scooters to overcome their suspicions and convince them.
He said, “After confirming his identity in the DNA test, Jirawala’s family took his body on Friday. His scooter, which was destroyed in the fire, was also found near the accident site. The chassis and engine number also matched scooter registration documents.”
The official said, “To overcome the suspicion of his family, we collected CCTV footage from the area so that he could know if he was actually passing through that way. The last location of his mobile phone was found near the accident site.” Immediately after the accident, Jirawala, a resident of Naroda area of ​​Ahmedabad, turned off his mobile phone and did not return home.
After the police were informed, their investigation revealed that they were 700 meters away from the crash site according to their last location of their mobile phone. In Badlapur, the funeral of a crew member of the crashed aircraft was performed. The body of Pathak (34), who has been serving in Air India for the last 11 years, was handed over to his family members after a nine -day -long identification process. His body was identified by the DNA test. Meanwhile, the Sheikh family, who lives in Pimpri Chinchwad, met the remains of 22 -year -old Irfan on Friday after a DNA match, which was brought to Pune early in the morning. His funeral was performed at Nehru Nagar Cemetery.
Ahmedabad, Gujarat
June 21, 2025 11:30 PM IST
