Mum-of-two is first British Air India crash victim released to family

The body of the first British victim of Air India Flight 171 has been returned by officials to her family.

Mother-of-two Elcina Alpesh Makwana, 42, had travelled to India for dental treatment and to visit her parents when she was caught in the aviation disaster.

The telecom business owner had called her father to let him know she had boarded the flight and would contact him once she had landed safely at London Gatwick.

At least 270 people have been confirmed dead after the Boeing 787 jet crashed after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport in India on Thursday.

Elcina’s funeral was held today at the Pensionpora Cemetery Vadodara in Gujarat.

Both her husband, Alpesh, 52, and their two children, aged seven and 11 flew out from the UK today for the Catholic service.

Elcina’s sister Anne found out about the crash in the news, their uncle Joseph Patel said.

He told the Telegraph: ‘She vanished just like that, leaving us in shock, in tears, unable to believe what we were hearing.’

Elcina moved to London 15 years ago and worked part-time jobs to support both her family in the UK and her parents back home.

Described as an ‘incredibly sweet, kind and generous, a truly gentle soul’ Elcina adopted two children and paid for their education.

‘Her loss is devastating. She was the bond that held our entire family together’, her uncle added.

A total of 53 Britons were onboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for Gatwick, of whom all but one died.

The lone survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, was in seat 11A when he managed to escape from the burning wreckage.

Many of the passengers were visiting family and friends in the UK or returning from holidays or family visits in India.

Entire families were wiped out in one of India’s worst aviation crashes.

Sayedmiya Inayatali, 48, had been visiting his 90-year-old mother in India with his wife, Nafisabanu, 46, and their children, Waqueeali, 25, and Taskin, 22, when the crash happened.

A relative from Wembley, London, who lived with the Inayatalis, had been preparing to pick them up from Gatwick until news of the crash emerged, tearing his ‘life apart.’

The family had posted a selfie showing them smiling moments before boarding the plane at Ahmedabad.

Several passengers were travelling on to Leicester, home to one of the largest Indian communities in the UK.

An investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing, led by India’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau.

One of the aircraft’s black boxes has been recovered from the wreckage, authorities confirmed.

DNA samples are being matched with bodies in order to identify victims of the disaster.

Officials said that as of Sunday, 30 bodies had been identified with DNA samples provided by relatives.

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