12 Unidentified Bodies of Air Crash Victims given Mass Burial

Mangalore Today News Network

Watch video - Final adieu to unidentified Air crash victims.

Mangalore, June 2, 2010: Despite the awesome tragedy of their deaths and the desperate attempts of all concerned to give them an honourable end, they finally ended up as numbers, sans identity and denied the right to be given a decent funeral as per their family traditions.

The 12 bodies of the Mangalore plane crash of May 22, whose identity could not be established in spite of DNA tests conducted in a Hyderabad-based laboratory, were given a mass burial as per Section 34 of the Disaster Management Rules at Tannirbavi Road on June 2, Wednesday. The final rites were conducted according to Christian, Hindu, and Muslim religions.

 

 

The site chosen for the burial was along the banks of Gurupur river at the entry point to Tannirbhavi. The land belongs to New Mangalore Port Trust. Twelve pits were dug close to each other to accommodate the bodies. Both bodies and the graves were identified only by their number tags. It was heartrending to see the mangled bodies bundled up together in white cloth. Some bodies were half their normal size as the legs were missing. One body comprised just a small one cubic foot bundle as that were only a few parts that could be retrieved.

Once the bodies were placed next to their respective graves, leaders of Muslim, Christian and Hindu religions respectively recited prayers in succession. A table was arranged for placing of wreaths and garlands by the relatives of the deceased, ministers and officials, the leaders of various communities, organisations and groups. Finally the bodies were lowered into their respective graves and the graves were filled with mud.

K. H. Muniappa, the union minister of state for railways; Krishna J. Palemar, the district-in-charge minister; MP Nalin Kumar Kateel; Mayor Rajani Dugganna; MLA U. T. Khader; Moideen Bawa; and many other political leaders participated in the final rites and offered wreaths in honor of the plane crash victims.

 

 

 

 

 

Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh garlanded the bodies on behalf of the police department; and Additional Deputy Commissioner S. A. Prabhakar Sharma, MCC Commissioner Dr. K. N. Vijayaprakash, C. Basavaraj, DMO of Wenlock Hospital Dr. Saroja, and Harsha garlanded the bodies on behalf of the district administration, Mangalore City Corporation, fire department, Wenlock Hospital, and Press Club, respectively.

Religious leaders such as Illias Bhakhabi Mustaq from Bolar Mosque; Fr. William Menezes, the director of Mangalore Diocese; and M. B. Puranik, the head of the Mangalore division of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad led prayer services as part of the final rites.

Pradeep, a survivor of the tragedy, also attended the mass burial.

The burial brings to a closure the long drawn process of identification and disposal of bodies which has been lingering for the last 10 days following the crash, adding to the trauma of the affected families. There are suggestions that the mass burial site should be converted into a memorial monument.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Boeing 737 aircraft belonging to Air India Express had crashed at Mangalore Airport in the wee hours of the morning of Saturday 22nd May.  The aircraft had overshot the runway and plunged into a gorge claiming 158 lives including passengers and all crew members. Eight passengers had however miraculously survived the ordeal. Almost all the bodies of the dead were charred beyond recognition. Due to multiple claims on several bodies, the government resorted to DNA testing to identify the bodies. However in 12 even a DNA test failed to establish the correct identity of the person. Hence the Deputy Commissioner in Charge, Prabhakar Sharma to declare them as unidentified bodies as per section 34 of the Disaster Management Act and give them a mass burial.

 

List of unidentified bodies
As per records, bodies of Mohammed Zubair from Volakadu Udupi, his children, Zainab and Ziad, Navid Ibrahim, Vaman Prabhu Ashoknagar, Ignatius D’Souza Shaktinagar, Mohammed Ismail Hassan Jeppu, K K Shetty Kodiyalbail, Abubakker Siddiq Uppala, Abdul Aziz Uppala, Abdul Basheer K M Bekal, Sukumar Moilatti in Kerala, and crew member of the ill-fated aircraft, Sujata, have not been recovered.