Authorities identify 259 victims, remains of 256 people handed over to families
\n AHMEDABAD
\nAuthorities in India\u2019s Gujarat state on Tuesday said that they had identified all but one of 260 bodies recovered following an Air India plane crash earlier this month in the western city of Ahmedabad.
\nThe Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 242 people on board, bound for London\u2019s Gatwick Airport, lost height seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad on June 12 and erupted in a fireball as it hit a medical college hostel.
\nThere was one survivor among those on the plane, and the crash also killed 19 people on the ground.
\nThe death count was below the authorities\u2019 earlier estimate of 270 but officials remained cautious on the final toll.
\n\u201cWe have identified 259 victims. They include 240 passengers and 19 non-passengers. The DNA test result of one passenger is still awaited,\u201d said Rakesh Joshi, superintendent of Ahmedabad civil hospital.
\n\u201cThe site of the crash is still being cleared. Unless we are certain that no additional victims are going to be found, we cannot declare the final death toll,\u201d Joshi added.
\nThe remains of the 256 people have been handed over to their families, the local government said in a statement, adding that 253 victims were identified through DNA sample matching and the remaining six through facial identification.
\nThe development comes days after the country\u2019s issued a warning to Air India for \u201crepeated and serious violations\u201d related to pilot duty scheduling and oversight.
\nThe Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directed Air India to remove three company executives from crew scheduling roles \u2014 a divisional vice president, a chief manager of crew scheduling and one planning executive \u2014 for lapses linked to flights from Bengaluru to London on May 16 and May 17 that exceeded the stipulated pilot flight time limit of 10 hours.
\nThe June 20 order cited \u201csystemic failures in scheduling protocol and oversights\u201d and criticised the lack of strict disciplinary measures against responsible officials.
\nIt is to be noted that Air India was taken over by the Tata Group in 2022 and faces many challenges in its attempts to rebuild its image, after years of criticism from travellers for poor service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Authorities identify 259 victims, remains of 256 people handed over to families AHMEDABAD Authorities in India\u2019s Gujarat state on Tuesday said that they had identified all but one of 260 bodies recovered following an Air India plane crash earlier this month in the western city of Ahmedabad. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 242 people on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486379,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-486369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n