Following the Air India Flight 171 crash, families in the UK have reported that they received the wrong mortal remains of their loved ones. Multiple sources indicate that in at least two cases, the remains provided to the families were not those of the deceased as identified. This has caused severe emotional distress for the affected families.
One British family was forced to postpone the funeral of their loved one upon discovering that the body inside the coffin was not their family member. In another case, the remains of a different individual were allegedly found in the same coffin as the victim, which necessitated forensic procedures before the final rites could be carried out. The errors were discovered through standard DNA matching processes. Dr. Fiona Wilcox, a West London Coroner, reportedly identified the errors and alerted the authorities. Reports indicate that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to raise the matter with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter’s state visit to the UK next week. The mishandling of the victims is likely to become a sensitive diplomatic issue if more errors are uncovered.