DNA results to identify victims in Air India crash will take 72 hours: Official

A total of 275 samples have been collected from the remains of the deceased. These include body parts disintegrated and kept in the mortuary: Doctor

AHMEDABAD: The DNA test of samples collected from grieving families to identify their relatives killed in the deadly crash of a London-bound Air India flight will be expedited and completed within three days, a senior doctor overseeing the process said on Friday.

The samples were despatched to forensic laboratories in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar (PTI)

“It usually takes about 3 months to analyse an individual’s DNA and issue the report. We have expedited the entire process and will do it within 72 hours,” Saumil P Merchant, professor and head, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Narendra Modi Medical College, told Hindustan Times.

The tests would be conducted at forensic laboratories in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.

He said the samples collected from the relatives will be matched against a total of 275 samples collected from the remains of the deceased. “These include body parts disintegrated and kept in the mortuary,” Merchant said at Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital.

The authorities are relying on DNA testing to identify victims, as many bodies were charred beyond recognition due to the intensity of the crash.

Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian on board the flight bound for London’s Gatwick airport, as well as 12 crew members, making 242 onboard. Just one passenger miraculously survived the giant fireball, but several medical students are suspected to be among those who died when the Air India 787-8 Dreamliner lost altitude within 33 seconds of takeoff and hit two buildings of the hostel complex.

A large hall at the BJ Medical College of the Civil Hospital, which doubled up as a classroom and auditorium, was turned into a DNA sample collection centre late on Thursday.

Union home minister Amit Shah, who visited the crash site on Thursday evening, said forensic laboratories would “complete the DNA testing in the shortest possible time”. Shah said the final official toll would “be declared only after DNA testing is completed”.

A person aware of the matter said the DNA samples were being sent to forensic laboratories in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, and the process to hand over the bodies to the families could begin by Sunday.