Ahmedabad: More than two weeks after the devastating crash of Air India Flight 171 in Ahmedabad, the final victim has been identified, marking the emotional end of a painstaking identification process. The last body, belonging to a passenger from Kutch, Gujarat, was confirmed through DNA matching late Friday night and handed over to family members.
With this, all 260 victims of the June 12 tragedy, including 241 onboard have now been officially identified. “This last confirmation has brought closure to the process of victim identification,” said superintendent of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. “The deceased’s family has been informed, and the remains were returned to them with all due dignity.”
The London-bound Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, tearing through a residential area in Meghaninagar. The lone survivor, 40-year-old British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, remains under treatment.
The process to identify all 260 deceased victims was led by the Gujarat health department and supported by the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU). More than 318 body parts were recovered from the site. DNA samples were collected from over 250 relatives, and matching was conducted at FSL Gandhinagar and NFSU.
“This last case required exceptional care,” said Dr. Bhargav Patel, head of DNA Forensics at NFSU. “It involved degraded remains and complex matching, but our team persisted. Every family deserves to know the fate of their loved one.”
The final identification brings closure to hundreds of grieving families, even as investigations into the cause of the crash continue. For the family in Kutch, the return of their relative’s remains marks the end of a harrowing wait, and the beginning of mourning.