Mangalore crash: Officials to speed up identification process of bodies

A day after the country's worst tragedy in a decade claimed 158 lives, authorities were today hurrying with the post mortem of the crash victims to prevent the condition of the bodies from deteriorating.

Around 50 of the 104 bodies identified so far are from Kasaragod and Kannur districts of neighbouring Kerala.

Priority was being given to post-mortem as identifying the badly-charred bodies has become more difficult now with rapid decomposition, superintendent of police (Kasaragod) P Prakash said.

At the hospital, relatives of the victims were seen trying hard to identify their loved ones with their faces covered with masks.

Many bodies were charred in the fire that consumed the aircraft after it crashed yesterday, making it difficult to identify them.

DNA experts from Hyderabad have arrived here for a detailed examination of the bodies as part of the identification process.

Search operation is on to recover the Cockpit Voice Recorder, commonly known as the black box, of the aircraft as it will help ascertain the exact cause of the mishap.

Civil aviation director general V Chopra is slated to visit the crash site later in the day, as also Union minister of overseas Indian affairs Vayalar Ravi to coordinate relief operations.