The mother of a victim of the Air India crash has spoken out about the “heartbreaking” moment she received the wrong body to bury in a botched repatriation scheme.
Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, 39, had been on the plane from Ahmedabad with his husband, Jamie, 45, after celebrating their wedding anniversary in India after the plane to London Gatwick crashed, less than a minute into the flight. Only one passenger survived when the Air India flight 171 lost power and crashed into a building, killing 260 people.
Mr Greenlaw-Meek’s mother, Amanda Donaghey, told The Sunday Times “it was heartbreaking,” to be sent the wrong remains. “We don’t know what poor person is in that casket. This is an appalling thing to have happened.”
“All the time, I feel like I’m just standing on the edge of a black hole thinking, ‘Has he been disposed of?’” Ms Donaghey told the newspaper, who had travelled all the way from the south of France to Ahmedabad on 17 June to find out what had happened to her son.
Families, including Ms Donaghey, were asked to supply DNA samples to help identify the remains of their loved ones because the nature of the crash saw temperatures reach 1,500C as a large fireball engulfed the area, which many of the victims had been burnt beyond recognition.
Having not slept for days, she went straight to the hospital and got the tests done with the hope she could bring Fiongal and Jamie home as soon as possible.
She was told the blood test would be analysed to track down Fiongal, which could take up to 72 hours to happen. After three days of searching, just as she was losing hope, Ms Donaghey was told there was a “match” for her son, which could finally bring his remains home to the UK.
She arrived back in London Gatwick with the assurance that her son was in the casket. But as the family was planning the funerals, police got in touch to say that a British coroner had run a second DNA test and the remains in Fiongal’s coffin were not his.
Family liaison officers met with Ms Donaghey, Fiongal’s father, sister and brother on 4 July where they told the family they didn’t have Fiongal, despite having carried out DNA tests.
The family has since spent every day on the phone with the Foreign Office trying to understand where their son is. They have been unable to lay Fiongal to rest with his husband as a result of this.
“We would like to be able to do the rites necessary for Fiongal in order for us to move on as a family. And that is what is missing,” Ms Donaghey told The Sunday Times. “And we would now like the British government to do everything in its power to find out, and bring Fiongal home.”
James Healy-Pratt, a lawyer representing several British families trying to bring back their loved ones, said the remains of at least 12 British victims had been repatriated.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to raise concerns over the errors during a meeting with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, during his state visit to the UK this week.
Air India said on Saturday that it “stands in solidarity with the families and those affected by the AI171 accident.
“We continue to mourn their loss and remain fully committed to providing support during this difficult time. Over a month ago, Air India started releasing interim payment of Rs 25 lakh (£21,340.89) to the affected families, to help them meet their immediate financial needs.
“The interim payment will be adjusted against any final compensation. Air India has, so far, released the interim compensation to the families of 147 of the 229 deceased passengers and also the 19 who lost their lives at the accident site.
“In addition, the requisite documents of 52 others have been verified, to whose families the interim compensation will be released progressively.”
