PM visits plane crash site, meets injured: 6 of 265 bodies handed over to kin

PTI, Ahmedabad, June 13 – Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday visited the site of the Air India plane crash, in which 265 people lost their lives, and met the injured at the civil hospital in Ahmedabad.

A day after the deadly plane crash in the city, the bodies of six victims were handed over to their families after identification on Friday, police said. In case of the other bodies, which are partially or fully charred, it will take around 72 hours to complete the exercise of matching their DNA samples, police said.

The Prime Minister arrived at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport in the morning and drove straight to the plane crash site, officials said. He spent around 20 minutes inspecting the site, where the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft (AI171) crashed into a complex of B J Medical College in the Meghaninagar area shortly after taking off on Thursday afternoon.

Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu and Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi informed the Prime Minister about how the plane crashed into the college hostel and mess. Modi later visited the city civil hospital, where he spoke to Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the lone plane survivor of the tragedy, and also met other persons injured in the accident.

The Prime Minister visited the C7 ward of the hospital, where 25 injured people are undergoing treatment, and interacted with the doctors. Modi met state and civil aviation officers at the GujSail office near the Ahmedabad airport and was briefed on the tragedy.

The London-bound aircraft with 242 people on board, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, crashed moments after taking off. Of the 265 bodies brought to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital for post-mortem on Thursday, six victims were identified so far as their faces were intact, police inspector Chirag Gosai said.

According to him, DNA profiling is underway to ascertain the identities of others as their bodies are charred beyond recognition. "We have handed over the six bodies to the relatives. We have started the process of collecting DNA samples of relatives for profiling to identify bodies that are charred beyond recognition," Gosai said. "It will take nearly 72 hours to complete the exercise of matching the DNA samples. Once there is a match, bodies will be handed over to relatives from the post-mortem room," Gosai said.

DGCA orders enhanced inspection of AI's Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet

Aviation watchdog DGCA on Friday ordered enhanced safety inspection of Air India's Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet, a day after 241 people onboard died in the plane crash in Ahmedabad.

There are 26 Boeing 787-8s and 7 Boeing 787-9s in the fleet of Air India owned by Tata Group. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has directed Air India to carry out additional maintenance actions on its Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 planes that are equipped with Genx engines with immediate effect.

These actions will be carried out in coordination with the DGCA regional offices concerned.