With DNA profiling of nine victims of Thursday’s Air India crash complete, the hospital authorities handed over the first body to a family in Ahmedabad Saturday.
As per protocol, bodies are being released only after complete DNA verification and legal paperwork.
Earlier, eight victims, who were identified by their relatives and did not need DNA profiling as their bodies were not damaged, had been handed over to their families by the hospital.
Doctors on Saturday said around 270 bodies have been brought to the hospital from the air crash site so far.
The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, bound for London, issued a mayday call shortly before it crashed around lunchtime on Thursday, bursting into a fireball as it hit residential buildings, in one of the worst plane disasters the country has seen.
There was one survivor out of 242 passengers and crew on board the jet when it crashed, leaving the tailpiece of the aircraft jutting out of a hostel for medical staff.
Distraught relatives of passengers have been providing DNA samples in Ahmedabad, with some having to fly to India to help the process.
The official casualty number will not be finalised until the slow process of DNA identification is completed.
Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian on board the flight, as well as 12 crew members.
Those killed ranged from a former Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani, to a teenage tea seller.
The lone survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old businessman based in the UK, said even he could not explain how he survived.
Mr Ramesh was in seat 11A, positioned in the first row of economy class, and close to the emergency exits on the left side.
The section opposite him, where the plane had rammed into a wall, was sealed off by debris and fire. None of the occupants from those rows survived.
“The door must’ve broken on impact,” he said. “There was a wall on the opposite side, but near me, it was open. I ran. I don’t know how.”
“I don’t know how I came out of it alive,” Mr Ramesh told Doordarshan. “For a while, I thought I was about to die. But when I opened my eyes, I saw I was alive. And I opened my seat belt and got out of there. The airhostess and aunty uncle all died before my eyes,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a visit to Mr Ramesh on Friday at the hospital where he is being treated for burns and other injuries
Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said that a flight data recorder, or black box, had been recovered, saying it would “significantly aid” investigations.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation or DGCA has directed Air India to immediately carry out the additional maintenance actions on its B787-8/9 aircraft equipped with Genx engines.
The tests include inspection of Fuel Parameter Monitoring and associated system checks; inspection of cabin air compressor and associated systems; Electronic Engine Control System Test; Engine Fuel Driven Actuator-Operational Test and oil system check; serviceability check of Hydraulic system; and Review of Take-off parameters.
Following the crash, the Tata group, which owns Air India, announced a compensation of Rs 1 crore each for the families of those who lost their lives in the tragic plane crash.
