Grief turns into anger as families wait for bodies

DNA matching taking longer than usual because of the state of many of the victims

- Debarshi Dasgupta

Anger has been mounting among family members of passengers on board the ill-fated Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad, as they face an agonizing wait for the bodies of their loved ones.

All but one of the 242 passengers and crew on board were killed in the June 12 crash, with an additional unconfirmed number of fatalities on the ground. Flight AI171, operated with a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, had rammed into a hostel mess in the western Indian city's Byramjee Jeejeebhoy (BJ) Medical College and Civil Hospital before erupting into a large ball of fire.

Dr Dhaval Gameti, president of the Junior Doctors' Association at the BJ Medical College, told reporters on June 14 that 270 bodies had been recovered from the crash site, with more bodies potentially still stuck under rubble.

One body, believed to be that of an air hostess, was retrieved from the site on June 14.

Thirty-two injured people from the site were also admitted to the Civil Hospital, with some still in critical condition. Only eight bodies—those that were identified visually—have been handed over to family members, with the rest to be released after DNA matches, which doctors said could take up to 72 hours.

But the patience of family members is wearing thin, with grief beginning to give way to rage as some question the agonizing wait marked by a lack of official and regular communication from the authorities to the victims' families and media.