A tragic mix-up has added fresh pain to the families of British victims of the Air India crash, according to British news outlet Daily Mail, who reported that some repatriated remains were wrongly identified before being flown back to the UK.
The disaster, which took place on June 12, killed 261 people when Air India flight 171 crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad airport. Among the victims were 52 British nationals returning home.
Now, disturbing details have come to light suggesting that at least two families in the UK received the wrong remains. In one case, the family had to call off the funeral after being informed that the coffin did not contain their loved one. In another instance, commingled remains of more than one passenger were placed in the same casket and had to be separated before burial.
These mistakes were discovered after Inner West London coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox attempted to match the remains with DNA samples provided by the families. As a result, a high-level inquiry is now underway in both London and India. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to raise the matter with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his state visit to the UK this week.
Aviation lawyer James Healy-Pratt, who is representing several affected families, is investigating the 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.”
He said one set of remains had already been separated and buried, but another family — referred to as Family X — was left without anyone to bury. “Family X have no-one to bury because it was the wrong person in their casket. And if 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.”
Healy-Pratt is now tracing the full chain of events from the crash site to the return of remains in the UK. Families who arrived in India after the crash had already raised concerns about poor coordination and the risk of such errors. One relative spoke of a “lack of transparency and oversight in the identification and handling of remains” and had called for British officials to take charge of the process.
The crash, which occurred near a medical hostel and houses in Ahmedabad, led to a chaotic recovery operation. Rescue teams used sniffer dogs and special equipment, while local volunteers helped search through wreckage by hand. Due to the extreme heat and impact, many remains were severely burnt or fragmented.
DNA tests were conducted at Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, where remains were handed over in plastic containers or coffins. Families were told to supply DNA samples and, in some cases, dental records were used for identification. However, many had no way to verify if the process was carried out properly.
“Nobody looked at the remains. We weren’t allowed to,” said Altaf Taju from Blackburn, who lost both his parents and a brother-in-law in the crash. “They just said, ‘This is your mother or father’, and gave us a paper label with an ID number on it. We had to take their word for it. It’s horrific that this could have happened, but what could anyone do?”
He said a police liaison officer informed him of the mix-up but confirmed that his own relatives were not affected, as they were buried quickly in India in accordance with Islamic customs. By June 28, Indian authorities claimed DNA testing had identified all 260 victims. Some families, however, complained of delays and poor communication from Air India.
Dr Wilcox declined to comment on the issue. Mr Healy-Pratt added: “On the known evidence, the chain of custody of these lost loved ones was unacceptably poor. We are investigating the causes of those failures and demanding answers on behalf of these deserving British families. We await formal responses from Air India, and their emergency response contractors – Kenyons International Emergency Services. The families are also directly in contact with their MPs, the FCDO and the offices of the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary – ahead of Premier Modi’s visit to London this week.”
Government sources said that British disaster victim identification experts were sent to Ahmedabad to observe local procedures and support consular work. They also helped provide verification data to the coroner, who has opened and adjourned inquests into 12 deaths.
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.”
