Ahmedabad plane crash: At least 249 dead, officials struggle to arrive at a final figure

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 4) Kanan Desai had said Thursday that around 265 bodies had been found. The medical college has counted deaths of four MBBS students and a doctor’s wife who were at the crash site. But going by this data, there is no clarity about at least 16 others who could have died on the ground.

A top government official told The Indian Express: “It will be very difficult to say how many deaths occurred until we confirm the identity because it is possible that parts of one body are being assumed as the remains of two persons.”

Sources said autopsies were still going on till late Friday. “It has been easier to identify those who died on the ground as they did not suffer as many burns as those on board,” said a government official.

The Dean of BJ Medical College, Dr Minakshi Parikh, had told reporters Thursday that they had no information about the whereabouts of two third-year medical students and three family members of a doctor.

An official said: “There is no clear record of people missing yet.”

Authorities have collected 219 DNA samples of victims’ blood relatives to match with the bodies. At least 21 samples are of foreign nationals, said a government official.

The Ahmedabad Police has registered an accidental death case at the Meghaninagar police station under whose jurisdiction the crash occurred. Forty police teams have been formed to investigate the identities of the deceased by making inquest reports (panchnamas) after autopsies.

A statement from Gujarat government said Friday: “The bodies of eight individuals from nearby residential areas who lost their lives in the incident were identified and handed over to their respective families.”

Of these were bodies of victims from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bhavnagar in Gujarat besides other districts, sources said.

“Two of the bodies were sent out by early Friday morning while the rest went by evening,” said an official.

According to the state government, around 50 injured individuals were brought to the civil hospital in Ahmedabad. Of these, 16 are being treated as outpatients, while 31 are under treatment as inpatients. At least 12 of these were due to be discharged soon, said the statement.

(inputs from Aditi Raja)