Mangalore, June 1: Mangalore Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh informed reporters the he might have to conduct a mass burial rite for the remaining 11 unidentified bodies of plane crash victims because the DNA results prove that they are not related to any of the claimants. The bereaved families were shocked, outraged, and sorrowful when they realized that they will never be able to conduct the final rites of their loved ones. The latest DNA test results are now raising doubts as to whether the other bodies had been correctly identified.
The authorities will bury the remaining unidentified bodies on Wednesday as per Section 34 of the Disaster Management Rules.
Most of the bereaved families had identified the charred remains of their loved ones through clothes and accessories worn and other factors. However, DNA tests had to be conducted on 22 bodies because they were charred beyond recognition. Ten of these bodies were successfully identified although one of the families insisted that the body given to them was not that of their loved one. The maternal uncle of 4-year-old Zubair was enraged when he was given the body of an adult.
On May 28, the DNA report of yet another body was received from the Hyderabad-based lab, leaving only a total of 11 bodies to be identified. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police S. A. Prabhkar Sharma said that some of the bodies might have been wrongly identified. He assured the bereaved families that the DNA reports will not be considered while handing over compensations and death certificates to the families of the victims.