1st funerals of crash victims held

The first funerals of some of the passengers killed aboard Air India Flight 171 took place on Sunday while most grieving families continued an agonising wait for the remains of their loved ones killed in India's worst single-aircraft tragedy.

- Ateeq Shaikh letters hindustantimes.com

On June 12, the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 242 passengers and crew, crashed Ahmedabad in moments after take-off. The London-bound flight carried 169 Indian, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian passenger, along with 12 crew members. Only one person-British national Viswash Kumar Ramesh-survived.

As of Sunday, the death toll stood at 271. However, the identification process remained painfully slow for most families.

Health officials said just 86 victims had been identified by Sunday evening, more than three days after the crash.

Hospital authorities have deployed extensive resources for the identification process, with three forensic science laboratory teams analysing DNA samples from relatives of plane passengers so far.

The process involves matching tissue samples from bones and teeth of victims with blood samples from relatives.