India Mourns 279 Victims of Air India Crash as DNA Identifies First Bodies

Families in India are preparing to bury their loved ones on Sunday following one of the deadliest plane crashes in recent memory. At least 279 people have been confirmed dead after the Air India Dreamliner crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff.

Health officials are now handing over the first bodies—identified through DNA testing—in plain white coffins to grieving relatives.

“My heart feels heavy. How do we give these bodies to the families?”
— Tushar Leuva, NGO worker assisting recovery efforts

Out of 242 passengers and crew on board, only one person survived the crash, which also claimed the lives of at least 38 people on the ground. The plane went down in a residential area, igniting buildings used by hospital staff.

“How will the families react when they see the coffins? But we have to do it,” Leuva told AFP from the city mortuary.

One grieving relative, speaking anonymously, said they were instructed not to open the coffin when they received it. Witnesses at the scene described seeing charred remains and burned bodies strewn across the crash site.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner burst into flames just moments after takeoff, in what investigators believe may have been a catastrophic technical failure. The Indian civil hospital has begun matching DNA samples from loved ones to confirm victim identities. By Sunday morning, 31 bodies had been confirmed.

“This process takes time. It has to be done carefully,”
— Dr. Rajnish Patel, Ahmedabad Civil Hospital

While most of the injured on the ground have now been discharged, one or two remain in critical condition. Meanwhile, the government has launched a fleet-wide inspection of all Air India Dreamliners.

Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu assured the public that the black box or flight recorder is being analyzed to determine the exact cause of the crash.

Among the 242 passengers were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, 7 Portuguese, 1 Canadian, and 12 crew members.

One Survivor: Vishwash Kumar Ramesh

The lone survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, is a British citizen who managed to escape through a rupture in the fuselage. Tragically, his brother, who was also on the flight, did not survive.

Children Orphaned by Tragedy

Among the passengers was Arjun Patoliya, who had returned to India to scatter his late wife’s ashes. His death leaves behind two orphaned daughters in London.

“We all hope those two girls will be cared for. Words cannot describe what the families are feeling right now,”
— Anjana Patel, Mayor of Harrow, London

A Narrow Escape

One woman, Bhoomi Chauhan, 28, missed the flight after arriving late. She now reflects on her narrow escape:

“The airline checked in everyone already. I kept thinking, if only we had left earlier, we wouldn’t have missed it.”