British families of Air India victims sent wrong bodies ‘commingled’ in coffins

Grieving loved ones of those who were killed in the Air India crash are being sent the wrong bodies.

Some of the remains of the 261 victims have been wrongly identified before being repatriated to families in the UK.

The relatives of one victim was even forced to abandon their funeral plans after being told the coffin contained the body of an unknown passenger.

In one case the remains of two victims who have been ‘commingled’ together have also been placed in the same casket.

They had to be separated before the funeral took place.

Inner West London coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox has ordered all repatriated bodies to be matched with DNA samples provided by the families.

So far there have been two confirmed cases of mistaken identity.

An inquiry has opened between British and Indian authorities, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer set to raise concerns to his counterpart Narenda Modi on his state visit to Britain this week.

Some 52 passengers on the flight 171 were Britons departing Ahmedabad for London Gatwick when the aircraft lost power on June 12.

Aviation lawyer James Healy-Pratt who is representing many of the families said the bodies of 12 British nationals have been repatriated back to the UK.

He told The Mail: ‘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.

‘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.’

Altaf Taju, from Blackburn, whose parents Adam, 72 and Hasina, 70, died in the crash along with their son-in-law Altafhusen Patel, 51, said he was not able to look at any of the remains to check.

He said: ‘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?’

One family, who he referred to as Family X, had to cancel the funeral service after being given the wrong person in the casket.

‘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,’ he added.

Recovery teams used sniffer dogs and search equipment to find the bodies, with locals also volunteering to help sift through the smoldering remains.

Within three days all of the victims were believed to have been found, but most bodies were burnt beyond recognition.

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.’

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