Air India crash families ‘facing silence and indifference’ from authorities

The sole survivor of the Air India crash is still in the country recovering from his injuries while British families of victims have told the Foreign Secretary they are still facing “silence and indifference” from authorities, according to reports.

Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, survived the disaster on June 12 that killed 241 people on board and his wife has said he is grieving his brother Ajay, who had been sitting across the aisle.

Two families who received other victims’ remains in their relatives’ coffins wrote an open letter to Yvette Cooper calling on her to demand answers from her Indian counterparts over the blunder, the Times reported.

Mr Ramesh’s wife told the newspaper she had returned to the UK with their young son and the rest of the family remained in India.

She said: “(My son) understands but still misses his dad. I’m not sure when he’s coming back to the UK as his treatment is going on.

“Everything happened in front of him and the main thing is he lost his brother. He’s not talking to anyone in the media, even in India.”

Aviation lawyer James Healy-Pratt, whose firm Keystone Law is representing more than 20 British families who lost loved ones in the disaster, previously said relatives of one victim found out a casket contained “commingled” remains, while a different family were told a coffin contained the body of someone else, not their loved one.

According to The Times, Miten Patel, the son of Ashok and Shobhana Patel, and Tom Donaghey, brother of Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, wrote to the Foreign Secretary on Friday: “Not only did we lose our family members in this tragedy but have since endured unimaginable pain of their remains being mishandled, mislabelled, commingled and in one devastating case, completely lost without any explanation or any sort of empathetic response regarding this whatsoever from the authorities in India.”

They added: “For the last three months, we have tried to seek answers through the proper channels, but we have been met with silence and empty gestures.

“We cannot mourn in peace until accountability for these wrongs are acknowledged and addressed.”

The family of three British victims previously criticised the lack of transparency on the identification and repatriation of victims.

Relatives of Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa Vorajee and their four-year-old daughter Sara Nanabawa said they were confident they had received the correct bodies but “the mishandling of such a sensitive process speaks to a wider failure between the British and Indian authorities to act with care, co-ordination and respect”.

“We are deeply troubled by what this means for other families who may still be searching for certainty and closure,” they added.

Mr Healy-Pratt is investigating the identification mistakes but is also representing families at inquests, investigating the causes of the accident, taking High Court legal action in England against Air India and taking action against Boeing in the US courts.

It is understood no blame is being put on any UK agency for the blunders, he told the PA news agency in July.

“We know that they were not allowed anywhere near the DNA identification chain of custody link to the caskets,” he said. “That was the Indian authorities, that’s what we understand.”

“Somebody has to take responsibility in India for this massive screw-up and then they actually have to ensure that they can give proper assurances to the families that the job has been completed and done properly,” he added.

His firm has demanded a written explanation from Air India, including on the involvement of their contractors Kenyon International Emergency Services.

A preliminary report into the incident from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau found both of the plane’s fuel switches moved to the cut-off position immediately after take-off, stopping fuel supply to the engine.

It has sparked questions over whether the crash was deliberate.

The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a medical college shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport on June 12, killing 241 people on board.

Some 169 Indian passengers and 52 British nationals were killed, making it one of the deadliest plane crashes in terms of British fatalities.

Besides those on board, another 19 people died and 67 were seriously injured.

A Government Spokesperson said: “We understand that this is an extremely distressing time for the families, and our thoughts remain with them.

“Foreign Office staff continue to support the families and loved ones in line with our consular remit. We have allocated dedicated caseworkers to each family who wish to have one.”

“Formal identification of bodies is a matter for the Indian authorities.  We continue to liaise with the Government of Gujarat and the Government of India on behalf of the families and the Inner West London Senior Coroner to support the coronial process.”