For Mistry Jignesh, every passing minute felt like an eternity. It had been 72 hours since the tragic crash of Air India flight AI171, and his family’s wait for answers seemed endless. His 22-year-old niece was one of the 242 passengers who perished in the disaster, and the days since the crash had been consumed with visits to the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, desperately trying to find any details about her. The situation had become increasingly tense, as he was told by officials that the process of DNA matching – the critical step to identify the bodies – would be completed within 72 hours. However, on Saturday, with the deadline approaching, Mr. Jignesh was informed that the identification process might take longer.
“How can they possibly finish the DNA matching when people are still missing? What if my niece’s remains haven’t even been found yet?” he wondered aloud, as frustration and sorrow mixed in his voice. “The wait is unbearable.” Though officials declined to comment on the specifics, a fire department officer and a police official, speaking under the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the search for remains was ongoing.
As Mr. Jignesh struggled to process the uncertainty, the news continued to unfold. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, bound for London’s Gatwick Airport, had crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad’s main airport. The plane erupted in a massive fireball, marking India’s worst aviation disaster in recent history. Tragically, only one of the 242 passengers and crew survived. At least eight others lost their lives when the plane plummeted into a hostel of a medical college, landing in a densely populated residential area.
The Indian government quickly launched a high-level investigation, and all Boeing 787s operated by Indian carriers were ordered to undergo inspections. As the investigation continued, the exact cause of the crash remained unclear, though aviation experts from around the world were called in to assist with the inquiry. In the meantime, officials at the hospital worked tirelessly to complete the DNA matching process so that families could begin receiving their loved ones’ remains.
However, the path to closure was anything but straightforward. The hospital staff struggled to identify the bodies due to the severity of the fire. Many remains were so badly charred that recognition was nearly impossible. “There is no room for mistakes here. We need to ensure that every family receives the correct body,” said HP Sanghvi, the Director of the Directorate of Forensic Sciences in Gandhinagar. “But the DNA identification process is time-consuming, and the intense heat of the fire may have damaged the DNA of some passengers.”
Forensic experts, like Jaishankar Pillai, a forensic dentist at the hospital, were doing their best to collect dental records from the charred bodies, as dental identification could be the only viable option. “In some cases, the remains are so badly burned that the only way to identify them is through dental records,” Pillai explained. “We are working as quickly as possible, but it is a complex and emotional process.”
Outside the hospital, family members of the victims waited anxiously, caught in a never-ending cycle of hope and despair. Many were too overwhelmed by grief to speak to the media. “Words fail us,” one woman said as she hurriedly got into her car, overwhelmed by the long wait and the crushing uncertainty. As the hours dragged on, it was evident that time had lost all meaning for those waiting for any word on their loved ones.
Meanwhile, the reality of the situation began to sink in for some relatives. Kartik Kalawadia had last heard from his brother Mahesh just 30 minutes before the crash. Mahesh, a music producer in the Gujarati film industry, had been on his way home from work when he made a final phone call to his wife. “I’m coming home,” he told her, but that was the last time they spoke. The next thing the family knew, the plane had crashed, and Mahesh’s phone became unreachable.
Kartik and his family have spent the past few days desperately trying to trace Mahesh’s whereabouts. They filed a police complaint and visited the Civil Hospital multiple times, but they found no information. “The hospital told us they have no record of my brother,” Kartik said. “We also tried to trace his scooter, but nothing came of that either. It’s like he vanished into thin air.”
The uncertainty weighed heavily on the Kalawadia family. “I don’t know where he is, dead or alive,” Kartik added, his voice tinged with hopelessness. “We can only hope, I guess.”
The crash site was chaotic, and the scale of the disaster was beyond comprehension. Four wards of the BJ Medical College, located near the crash site, had been evacuated, with students in other nearby areas also beginning to leave. “There are just a few people left in one of the wards,” one student from the medical college explained. “The rest have all gone home. They’re haunted by the memories of what happened here.”
As the search for bodies continued, the tragedy cast a long shadow over the city of Ahmedabad. With over seven million residents, the city was filled with people whose lives had been forever altered by the crash. While some family members continued to wait for updates, others were coming to terms with their loss in painful silence.
Imtiyaz Ali Sayed had initially refused to believe that his brother, Javed, along with his wife and two children, could have perished in the crash. “It’s impossible,” he had said on Thursday night. But by Saturday, he was beginning to accept the reality. “With just a few hours left, we are now trying to decide what to do with the remains. Will we bury him here, or in the UK, where his wife’s family lives?” he asked, his voice filled with sorrow. “To me, it makes no difference. He’s gone. From ashes to dust, and back to God.”
The painful waiting continued for families like Mr. Jignesh’s. As each hour passed, their hopes were tested, and their suffering deepened. While the authorities worked diligently to identify the victims and return their remains to their loved ones, the emotional toll on the families was incalculable. In the midst of grief and loss, the only thing that could offer any semblance of comfort was the hope that, eventually, they would receive the closure they so desperately needed.
As the investigation into the crash continues, with authorities still searching for answers, the families of the victims are left grappling with the unbearable uncertainty. For them, the days feel longer than ever before, and each passing moment brings with it a new wave of grief. As they wait for the remains of their loved ones, they are reminded of the fragility of life and the deep pain of loss, a pain that will stay with them long after the final DNA samples are matched and the truth of the crash is revealed.
In the end, the crash of Air India flight AI171 serves as a devastating reminder of how quickly life can change and how deeply tragedy can touch us all. As the families continue their search for closure, the hope remains that justice will prevail and that the victims will be remembered not just for their deaths, but for the lives they lived and the love they shared with those who are left behind.
