Ahmedabad plane crash: 259 bodies identified, 256 handed over to families

After over a dozen days of the tragic Air India flight AI171 crash in Ahmedabad, a total of 259 deceased have been identified through DNA matching and 256 dead bodies have been handed over to the bereaved families.

Of the 242 deceased passengers, DNA samples of 240 have been matched. While 253 bodies were identified through DNA testing, only six were identified from face.

Nineteen bodies of non-passengers were handed over to the respective families.

Civil Hospital Superintendent Dr Rakesh Joshi said, "Out of 259 identified bodies, 180 were Indian citizens and seven were Portugal-origins, 52 were citizens of Britain, and one citizen belonged to Canada. Moreover, 19 non-passengers have also been identified as dead".

The bodies of three British citizens will be sent through flight in coming days, as per Joshi.

Out of the 256 deceased repatriated, a total of 28 bodies have arrived so far, while 228 were transported by road and handed over to their respective families. 

Region-wise, the deceased hailed from the following areas: Ahmedabad reported the highest number with 73 bodies, followed by Anand with 29, Vadodara with 24, and London (UK) with 10. Other regions include Surat (12), Kheda (11), Maharashtra (13), Diu (14), and Gandhinagar (7). Udaipur and Mehsana accounted for 7 each, while Bharuch had 7, and Amreli and Aravalli reported 2 each. Smaller numbers came from Botad (1), Jodhpur (1), Junagadh (1), Palanpur (1), Mahisagar (1), Bhavnagar (3), Rajkot (3), Rajasthan (unspecified) (2), Nadiad (1), Banaskantha (2), Jamnagar (2), Patan (4), Dwarka (2), Sabarkantha (1), Nagaland (1), Modasa (1), Khambhat (2), Manipur (1), Kerala (1), and Madhya Pradesh (1).