The condition of the bodies, many of which were irreparably burned, made it extremely difficult to identify the victims of the tragic Air India Express plane crash in Ahmedabad. Certain physical traits, like surgical implants—metal rods and plates from previous medical procedures—proved crucial in facilitating identification, according to BJP MLA Dr. Hasmukh Patel, who was instrumental in the early phases of the identification process.
One of the first public officials to arrive at the post-mortem area of the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, where the bodies were taken after the June 12 tragedy, was Dr. Patel, a former physician and current lawmaker from the Amraiwadi constituency.
"Given the scale of the crash, it was immediately clear that identifying victims would be extremely difficult," Patel said. He explained that BJP MLAs were alerted by the party to head to the crash site, but the situation there was chaotic. Instead, he contacted the civil hospital and learned that bodies were being taken there.
Seven or eight fully charred bodies had arrived by the time he arrived at the hospital. He recalled, "Parts of some of the bodies were coming off because they were so badly burned." Patel and others started using cotton tape to tag the bodies as they came in order to expedite the process. Wherever possible, tags were affixed to any remaining body parts, including the arms, chest, and head.
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“Normally, victims could be identified using physical features like hair, clothing, or jewelry,” Patel said. “But due to the intense heat—over 1,000°C inside the aircraft—these were mostly destroyed.”
But as the dreary task progressed, Patel and the medical staff noticed something that was helpful: surgical features. Metal plates and rods from previous surgeries or knee replacement implants were found in some of the bodies. Alongside the body tags, we also recorded these distinctive markers," he said.
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The BJP assigned Patel to help bereaved families who were being brought to the hospital. When family members came forward, they were questioned about the victims' basic details. Families waiting to reclaim their loved ones experienced some relief in a number of cases where the physical traits previously mentioned aided in more effectively matching DNA results.
As of June 22, officials reported that 251 victims' identities had been verified by DNA testing. 245 of these have had their bodies returned to their relatives. Patel recalled a similar aviation disaster in 1988, which brought back painful memories of this tragic incident. 133 people were killed when an Indian Airlines flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad crashed at the time. Alongside classmates, Patel, who was a second-year student at B J Medical College at the time of the June 12 crash, volunteered to tag bodies.
Now an MD in Pathology, Patel described both incidents as emotionally harrowing. “After the June 12 crash, I couldn’t sleep for a week,” he said. “I was physically active, doing what needed to be done, but mentally it was haunting. As a doctor, I’m trained to deal with death—but this was different, just like the 1988 crash.”
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