Mangalore crash: 12 unidentified bodies buried

The 12 unidentified victims of the IX-812 flight crash were given a mass burial on Wednesday, as the 24 families who had laid claim to the bodies stood in silence. The burial was done in a government land on Kulur-Thaneerbavi road, under the supervision of the district administration.

Government and Air India authorities decided on a mass burial after DNA testing failed to help identify the bodies.

Mangalore city police commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said that samples from the bodies did not match with those of people claiming to be relatives of the 12 victims — Jainab Mohammad Ziad and Mohammad Zuber Ziad (both children from Udupi); Naveed Ibrahim of Malpe; KK Shetty, Kodialbail; Vaman Prabhu, Ignatius  D’Souza, and Mohammad Ismail (all from Mangalore); Aboobackar Siddique and his brother Abdul Aziz from Uppala; Abdul Bashir Bakel and Sukumar from Kasargod; and Sujata Survase (a crew member of the Air India Express flight).

The 24 families paid their last respects by keeping flowers on all the 12 coffins. Later, an all-faith prayer meeting was held at the burial site. Religious persons, representing Hindus, Christians and Muslims, took part in the meeting. 

Prime minister’s special envoy and union minister for national highways KH Muniyappa, additional district magistrates of Mangalore, Kasargod, Udupi and Uttara Kannada, MPs from Udupi and Mangalore, and MLAs from Mangalore, Udupi, Kasargod and Bhatkal attended the ceremony.