Mumbai: Inside the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, there is a large room lined with benches where people sat solemnly, unwilling to step out even for a bite or a quick toilet break, fearing they might miss something important.
Ordinarily, this large room is an air-conditioned examination hall of the B.J. Medical College. But, Friday, the people sitting here were going through an altogether different test.
These were the family members of the passengers and crew members who died after the Air India Ahmedabad-London flight crashed on top of the B.J. Medical College hostel, shortly after takeoff Thursday.
Late Thursday, Air India confirmed that all but one passenger, a British national, had died in the accident. And, while dozens were injured at the hostel, authorities have not given an official figure on either the fatalities or the injured at the crash site so far.
The injured are being treated at the emergency ward of the hospital.
Family members were there to give their blood for DNA samples, so that the victims could be identified and they could claim the bodies of their loved ones.
By Friday, 11 am, the blood samples of over 200 family members had been collected, sources involved in the process told ThePrint.
“About hundreds of us who work with different government departments in the Gujarat government have been working since last night, calling the next of kin of all those who died in the crash, requesting them to come for a DNA test,” an official who works with the Gujarat revenue department told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
“We have made arrangements for them to have their meals here, and for those coming from outside Ahmedabad, we have also made arrangements to stay in government hostels and guest houses,” the official added.
Authorities have also collected the dental records from the charred bodies of 135 victims so far, Dr Jaishankar Pillai, dentist and tutor at the government dental college in Ahmedabad, told reporters.
In addition to government volunteers, students of the B.J. Medical College were helping in whatever way they could. Cutting chais and biscuits were being passed around, and every few minutes, a volunteer could be heard stopping to ask people on the benches if they wanted water.
“We are all going through grief, but we have all stepped up. As of last night, the blood banks were full as whoever could donate turned up,” a student, who did not wish to be named, told ThePrint outside the DNA testing centre.
“We quickly also tapped our friends from medical colleges across not just Gujarat, but even other states to try and contact the next of kin of those who died in the crash.”
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‘Just want to get hold of the body now’
On Friday, at the front of the hall, behind a wooden screen, a team of doctors was swiftly taking blood samples.
Hospital officials also repeatedly recommended that relatives who had already given their samples should leave, given that it would take time to get results.
“It will take some time for the results. Do not crowd here. Please have food arranged by us, and outside the hospital, the government has also organised transportation to take you to government guesthouses,” one official announced.
Rashid Patel, who walked out of the makeshift DNA sampling centre Friday morning, told ThePrint, “My nephew, Sahil Patel, was travelling to London because he had got a prestigious award to study there. He had already missed one month of his two-year course. We were all so proud of him.”
Since Sahil’s parents, he explained, live in a village near Bharuch, Rashid, who lives in Ahmedabad, had come to follow up with the authorities.
“We are told we will know more in 72 hours, but we are hoping to hear from the hospital sooner. Maybe today or tomorrow. We just want to claim the body. We will think of the rest later,” Rashid said.
Ahmedabad-resident Prakash Mehta was at the hospital hoping to get hold of the body of his sister’s husband, Prakashchandra Menaria.
Menaria had been living in London for the past two decades, while his wife and two children were living in Rajasthan’s Royda village. He had come back home for two months after his father passed away.
“He was going to return to England after two months. I came to drop him off at the airport, said my goodbyes, and went back home. Idly, I switched on the television, and it hit me,” Mehta told ThePrint. That goodbye was the final one.
“My brother-in-law came back for his father’s last rites. Now, we are scrambling to prepare for his last rites,” Mehta said.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)