270 bodies found in Air India crash; govt sets up probe panel

New Delhi

A total of 270 bodies of the victims of the Air India plane crash have been brought to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital so far, its doctors said on Saturday. The authorities had earlier pegged the death toll at 265.

In the last 24 hours, the city fire brigade has recovered one body as well as some body parts from the plane crash site, officials said.

"Around 270 bodies have been brought to the civil hospital so far from the plane crash site," President of Junior Doctors' Association of BJ Medical College, Dr Dhaval Gameti, told media persons.

Meanwhile a high-level multi-disciplinary committee, headed by the Union home secretary, will examine the causes that led to the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, and also suggest comprehensive guidelines to prevent such incidents in the future.

The civil aviation ministry said the committee will not be a substitute to other enquiries being conducted by relevant organisations.

The panel "will focus on formulating SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for preventing and handling such occurrences in the future”, and will publish its report in three months, the ministry said.

On 12 June, a London Gatwick-bound Boeing 787-8 aircraft crashed soon after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport, killing 241 people on board, and several others on the ground as it plunged into a medical college complex.  The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is already probing the fatal crash.

Chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, the panel has the civil aviation secretary and the additional secretary in the home ministry as members, according to an order dated 13 June.

"Around 270 bodies have been brought to the civil hospital so far from the plane crash site," President of Junior Doctors' Association of BJ Medical College, Dr Dhaval Gameti, told PTI.

The process of identification of victims by matching the DNA samples is currently underway, and the bodies will be handed over to their relatives once the process is complete.

The Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Service (AFES) has recovered some human body parts as well as a corpse in the last 24 hours from the plane crash site in the Meghaninagar area.