On the Air India plane, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, was Javed Ali and his family. The 37-year-old British national had travelled back home for Eid-ul-Adha (Bakrid) and to visit his ailing mother. But their life was cut short on Thursday, 12 June.
In what has been called India's worst aviation disaster in the last decade or so, at least 270 bodies have been recovered from the deadly Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad.
Among them were Ali, his wife Maryam and their two children, Amina (4) and Zain (5). Their family was among the 53 British nationals who were onboard the London-bound Air India plane.
Relatives of Javed, much like the other families, are now anxiously waiting to hear back for the DNA results at Kasauti Bhawan in BJ Medical college, Ahmedabad. Ali's family submitted the samples and the forms for the DNA results on the day the camp was set up for the families — 12 June.
But they have been told to wait for 72 hours, which seems all too long for the families, an endless wait.
Till the time the central or the state government does not declare any action, they won't do much. The administration want the families and friends of the victims to leave eventually. After 72 hours, they will release bodies one by one. This way, they won't be any pressure or blame on the government.Ayub Sheikh, Javed Ali's uncle to The Quint
'Life Had Just Started For Them...'
Sheikh stated that his nephew, Ali was working in hotel management sector in Britain.
"He only came home for Eid holidays for 6 days and to visit his ailing mother who has a heart problem," he told The Quint.
At the end of the six-day trip, Ali booked the tickets and was prepared to return to his home. Now, a week after Eid, Javed Ali and his family are no more.
Air India 171, which had 242 people on board, including 10 crew members and two pilots, crashed just 32 seconds after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport. There was only survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh.
Many families now wait for the DNA results to confirm the bodies of their loved ones.
Ghulam Rasool Patel, another uncle of Ali said the 72-hour wait has vexed the families.
The 72 hours is spinning in our heads now. We can't stop thinking about when this 72 hours will end. They should have had the technical support and mechanism to not handle this so carelessly. And so many journalists who came here didn't even know which flight this was or where it was headed to. The kind of questions they are asking, it's a menace for the families.Ghulam Rasool Patel, Javed's unlce to The Quint
Patel noted that the huge crowd of media-persons has not been asking the questions they should in critical situations like these.
"The media should be asking, how many bodies have been recovered? How many were men and women? What about the other bodies stuck? How did the engine stop? It's an airplane, not a toy. There is either a conspiracy or the authorities were being irresponsible. These are the questions that need to be asked," he added.
Talking about Ali, Patel said that his nephew was "trying to build an empire" in Britain but everything got over in the blink of an eye.
"He studied in Britain and got his citizenship there, so did his wife. They had small children and had recently bought a home there. Their life had just barely started and it got over," Patel told The Quint.
Even though they have been given the assurance of two-three days, Ali's family stated that the doctors and the staff is not giving them latest updates or more details to calm the agitated and worried families.
The Aviation Ministry said on Saturday, 14 June that the pilots of this London-bound Air India flight AI-171 had sent one radio message to Air Traffic Control at 1:39 PM.
Two days later, dozens of anxious family members, like Ali's, wait outside the Ahmedabad hospital to collect bodies of their loved ones, as doctors work overtime to run identification checks and DNA profiling.