The dark chapter in India’s aviation history has shaken the country. Coordination and scientific rigour in disaster response and victim identification will be the key as India tries to gather itself, following the Air India Boeing 787-8 crash in Ahmedabad.
Since it takes an enormous amount of work to clean up the crash site, the joint efforts of medical teams, emergency response forces, civic officials, airport officials, local law enforcement and firefighters are crucial.
Identification of charred bodies isn’t easy given the sensitivity of the process and the procedural accuracy that can’t be compromised. The teams involved are under pressure to return the bodies to their relatives swiftly.
Dr Vina Vaswani, professor of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology and Director of the Centre for Ethics at Yenepoya (deemed to be University) in Mangaluru, explained to a media house that DNA profiling is among the most reliable techniques for Disaster Victim Identification (DVI), especially in cases involving severe body trauma or dismemberment.
Citing Interpol’s DVI guidelines, she said identification is typically achieved by matching post-mortem DNA samples with samples obtained from first-degree biological relatives.
These relatives can also provide antemortem data—information about past medical treatments such as dental work or surgeries involving prosthetic implants. For instance, families may recall that the victim had dentures or a missing tooth, information that becomes crucial during identification.
According to Vaswani, records from treating dentists often support this process. Also, surgical scars, tattoos, and jewellery help narrow down the identities.
She believes such cues may still not be enough and that scientific procedures must be considered.
DNA samples can be collected from hair follicles, nails, teeth, soft tissue, and bone marrow, though extensive charring poses significant challenges.
The 2010 Mangaluru Air India Express crash, where several bodies were given last rites by the state, is an example, she said.
Vaswani believes professional grief counsellors play an essential role, especially while families wait for DNA samples.
However, India lacks a strong system for deploying grief counsellors at disaster sites. Medical staff, police officers, and nurses often step in to help grieving families. But this is a specialised role that calls for empathy and patience.
Yenepoya University has been conducting DVI training programmes for over a decade to address these gaps.
These exercises enable forensic physicians, dentists, and scientists to get ready for mass casualty incidents by simulating actual disaster situations. The training programme seeks to give more experts the know-how to raise India’s level of preparedness for disasters to that of other countries.
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