India’s inefficiency exposed as UK families receive wrong bodies from Air India crash
London: India’s administrative incompetence has once again come under global scrutiny after two bereaved families in the United Kingdom claimed they were handed the wrong bodies of loved ones killed in the June 12 Air India crash in Ahmedabad.
According to Kashmir Media Service, DNA tests conducted by the London coroner’s office revealed that at least two of the 12 repatriated coffins contained remains not matching the deceased as identified by Indian authorities. In one tragic case, a family preparing for final rites was informed the sealed coffin did not contain their relative, while another discovered a coffin containing mixed remains of two different individuals.
Despite India’s Ministry of External Affairs asserting that all remains were handled with “utmost professionalism,” the affected families remain traumatised, calling it a gross failure of basic identification protocols. Experts cited the charred condition of bodies, but critics argue that such mishandling reveals deeper systemic flaws—from civil hospital negligence to the government’s poor disaster response.
The incident is being viewed internationally as a reflection of India’s broader dysfunction, from failing to maintain flight safety to its inability to respectfully identify and repatriate the dead.
