New Delhi:
The Air India Boeing Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad has cost 275 lives — of them 241 were onboard the plane and 34 on the ground, the Gujarat Health Depart said today, giving for the first time an official figure. Since the flight to London crashed on June 12, there has been no official announcement about the total number of deaths. The authorities had said a figure could be arrived at only after the DNA matching took place.
Officials of the health department said all the bodies have now been recovered and so far, 260 bodies have been identified through DNA matching and six by facial recognition.
Among the deceased were 120 men, 124 women, and 16 children — 256 bodies have been handed over to families so far. The DNA identification of the remaining bodies is still in progress.
The Boeing Dreamliner bound for London had crashed seconds after the take-off, landing on a hostel complex just outside the airport perimeter. Only one passenger out of the 242 on board had survived.
It is not yet known what caused the crash. The black box of the aircraft is being examined.
Asked about media reports suggesting the black box is damaged and could be sent abroad for data extraction, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu called it “speculation”. “The black box is very much in India, and it is currently being investigated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau or AAIB,” he said.
