However, the worry is all bodies may not be identified, since many of them are severely charred and the samples might not render much help.
Will bodies of some of the passengers of the ill-fated Air India flight that crashed in Mangalore on Saturday remain unidentified?
Sources tracking the investigation at the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) in Hyderabad said at least five to six bodies might remain unidentified.
CDFD is conducting DNA tests to identify the bodies. A team of scientists from the centre visited the crash site in Mangalore on May 23 and collected DNA samples from the mortal remains of 22 of the 158 victims. It also collected similar samples from 34 relatives of the victims.
It was expected that the DNA matching would take at least a week, but CDFD scientists worked overtime to complete some of it within 48 hours.
However, the worry is all bodies may not be identified, since many of them are severely charred and the samples might not render much help. Here, the samples of relatives hold the key.
“Comparison samples from parents or children of the deceased will be the most preferred. However, the results may not be desired in most cases,” the sources said.
The other problem is faulty identification at the time of handing over some of the bodies to relatives at the crash site.
“Several bodies, though charred, were identified by relatives after the crash. If any of those bodies was wrongly identified, it could create a problem. In such cases, the comparison samples may not match the remaining bodies,” a source said.
CDFD has so far identified 10 bodies, including two of crew members. The identified are Riju John, Umashan, Mohammad Ali, Mohamed Ziad, Arran Juel Fernandes, Mahendra Ramesh Kodkany, Altaf Ahmad Moulana, Yugantar, Naveed Ibrahim and either of brothers Mohamed Basheer or Abubakar Siddique.
CDFD is confident of identifying another five to six bodies in the next 24-48 hours.
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