Transcription
To India now, and authorities say they've now recovered 2470 bodies from the site of the plane crash in Armabad city on Thursday. 241 people on board the flight died. One British passenger escaped through a hole in the fuselage. Our correspondent Deavina Gupta sent this report from the city.
An angry Gulam Rasul demanding the body of his friend Jabid at the city hospital in Ahmedabad. “This is an emergency case, and the DNA report should come out quickly, but the authorities are not doing anything about it,” he said. Jawed was among those killed when the London-bound Air India flight crashed on Wednesday. In another corner, more angry voices. “Give my son’s body back,” shouts one man. The process is slow. Families first have to submit DNA samples for identification, and then they’re asked to go to the government moery. Now there’s a cold storage room inside where the bodies have been kept under freezing conditions till the time their family members can come forward and identify them. Now they’re being charged beyond recognition. So, just outside this place, there is a table where officials are sitting to confirm a DNA match. Now these are the family members who have already given their DNA samples in another hospital, and once they have been matched, they’ve been called here to show their identification, and after that, they’ve been allowed to go inside. By the evening, some answers begin to arrive. Unfortunately, officials say they’ve had DNA matches for a total of 11 victims so far.
Among the first to be identified was a young medical student, Arian Rajbut. His family took his body home to the central Indian city of Gualia for a final farewell. They’re also seeking the truth behind this flight crash, that tragic incident. The government says it’s speeding up the probe. One important update from the technical investigation which is happening through the AIB is the recovery of the black box yesterday around 5:00 p.m. We are also eagerly waiting for what the results or the report is going to be.
Back at Ahmedabad’s hospital, empty coffins arrived to transport the last remains of the crash victims. A grim reminder of the loss and the long wait for many families. Dina Gupta, BBC News, Ahmedabad.
Let’s go live to the scene, and my colleague Arunad Mukhajji is there. Arund understands some of the funerals uh likely to take place today.
“Well, uh yes, uh we we we’re not exactly sure whether those are the bodies of those from the aircraft or the uh bodies that were recovered from the site uh you know of the people who were inside those buildings when uh the uh aircraft struck. We do have an updated death toll uh from the uh uh uh the uh doctor’s association of the hospital which is treating the injured as well as attending to the dead. They said that 270 uh have died is the report that they have. Uh and at the moment over here, you know, we’ve seen since yesterday a steady stream of officials who’ve continued to arrive driving in and out through these barricades. This is the last point as I’ve been saying uh till the crash site where we’ve been barricaded uh you know into but the officials essentially coming in and out uh still uh the efforts are on to ensure that they’ve managed to pick up everything that could be essential and crucial to the investigation uh which they feel could perish in this uh in this heat and in this humidity. It also rained a bit last night. Uh so they they really working against time to ensure they have all the articles. I have I have seen relatively less activity here compared to yesterday or till last evening. It’s been fairly quiet in relative terms, but you see the occasional cars coming in and out. We heard from the civil aviation minister as that reporter by my colleague Deina also pointed out yesterday, and they’re focusing on two major things. One of course is the recovery of the black box, the successful recovery of the black box which they feel is going to give you uh all the details about what happened in the cockpit moments before the crash. And two, the ongoing investigations of the existing 787 Boeing fleet which is being carried out. They’ve managed to clear a few aircraft, but many more are left.”
Run a day live there at the scene. Thank you very much.