National flags of India and UK.
Credit: iStock Photo
New Delhi: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi commencing his visit to London on Wednesday, New Delhi stated that it has been working with the government of the United Kingdom to address concerns over the families of the British victims of the June 12 Air India crash allegedly receiving wrong caskets with mortal remains of unknown people.
The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi stated that India was working with the UK “from the moment these concerns and issues” were brought to its attention.
The MEA in New Delhi issued the statement after the Daily Mail, published in the UK, reported that two families, who had lost near and dear ones in the Air India flight 171 crash on June 12 in Ahmedabad, had received caskets with the mortal remains of unknown people, instead of their own’s.
The newspaper quoted representatives of two families to report that the repatriation of the mortal remains of the citizens of the UK had been “horrifically bungled”.
The ill-fated Boeing 787 B Dreamliner aircraft had crashed into a medical college campus just minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad for Gatwick Airport in London.
The crash killed 229 of the 230 passengers and all the members of the crew.
The victims included 53 citizens of the UK.
The Daily Mail reported that relatives of one of the UK victims had abandoned funeral plans after they had found that the coffin they had received had the mortal remains of an unknown passenger and not those of the deceased member of their family.
The allegation of bungling in the process of repatriation of the air crash victims came to the public domain just ahead of the meeting between Modi and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. The Prime Minister left New Delhi on Wednesday for a two-day visit to the UK. Apart from the meeting with Starmer, Modi will also call on British King Charles III during his visit to London.
New Delhi did not straightaway refute the Daily Mail report on the alleged bungling in the repatriation of the mortal remains of the air crash victims but claimed that the process of identifying the victims had been carried out as per norms.
“In the wake of the tragic crash, the concerned authorities had carried out identification of victims as per established protocols and technical requirements. All mortal remains were handled with utmost professionalism and with due regard for the dignity of the deceased,” Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the MEA, stated on Wednesday.
“We are continuing to work with the UK authorities on addressing any concerns related to this issue.”