Families of British victims of the recent Air India Flight 171 disaster (June 12, 2025, Ahmedabad-London) are being subjected to unimaginable further tragedy after they were shown the wrong remains of their deceased relative. The horrific identification blunder has sparked widespread outrage and renewed calls for an independent investigation by UK and Indian authorities.
News accounts and corroborated by Indian news sources, report at least two instances in which DNA analysis commissioned by Inner West London coroner Dr. Fiona Wilcox uncovered horrific discrepancies. One was a family being forced to delay funeral arrangements after learning that the casket in which their relative was to be interred contained the body of a deceased, unidentified traveler. Another was the “commingled” remains of multiple victims in one casket, which had to be laboriously sorted out before a funeral could be conducted.
New Trauma for Bereaved Families
The mistakes have already put bereaved families into new trauma and doubt. Solicitors representing bereaved British families, including James Healy-Pratt, have described their clients\’ extreme distress and are calling for explanations now for the failure in the identification process. Healy-Pratt stated that some of the families have been left “in limbo” without anyone to bury, leaving the basic question regarding the identities of the incorrectly identified remains.
The process of identification, undertaken mostly by the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital following the crash, included huge efforts such as DNA sampling, dental analysis, and attempts by several forensic experts. But the intense heat and crash charred or shattered most bodies into unrecognizable fragments, and identification became a Herculean task.
Calls for Accountability and Compliance Protocol Improvement
India\’s Ministry of External Affairs has corroborated the reports, stating that they are “working closely with the UK side” and that “all mortal remains were handled with utmost professionalism and with due respect for the dignity of the dead.” Despite this confirmation, the British families and their representative attorneys continue to demand an investigation into the matter in an attempt to determine precisely where the chain of custody was broken.
This sensitive issue is most likely to be one of the key issues in UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer\’s upcoming meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The scandal brings forth the compelling need for robust, transparent, and globally harmonized procedures in disaster victim identification to prevent such grievous errors from further accelerating the pain of bereaved families. The focus now turns to accountability and making sure that all the victims are identified properly and returned to their rightful families for a proper farewell.
