New Delhi: 

Dr Gupta said that the identification of the burnt body is also possible following the identification of their belongings or any parts of their body. “In 80 percent of the burn cases, the victim is identified through their belongings,” said Dr Gupta.

Echoing the same view, another forensic expert, Adarsh Mishra, said that apart from DNA profiling, a burnt body can be identified with the use of any other parts of the body.

“Flash and body parts will be used for DNA profiling. Then it will be matched with the passengers' list and their family members,” said Mishra. When asked about the approximate time of completing the identification process, Mishra said that it may take 32-4 days or even a longer period.

 As London-bound AI 171 flight carrying 242 passengers and crew members met with a deadly crash in a nearby locality of the Ahmedabad airport, leaving most of the passengers burnt to death, forensic experts said that the only possible option for their identification is DNA profiling.

“Their identification will be made through DNA profiling,” said Dr Sudhir Gupta, Head of the Department (HOD) of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology at AIIMS,  

He said that the identification process becomes very tough when a body is totally charred to death, where bones are also not found.

“However, in the Ahmedabad plane crash incident, the identification may be possible within a short duration, following the fact that there are several forensic experts who will work on DNA profiling,” said Mishra.

He added that a fingerprint database can also help in ascertaining the identity of a deceased person.

DNA profiling is a technique used to identify individuals based on their unique DNA characteristics that involves analysing specific, highly variable regions of DNA, like short tandem repeats (STRs), to create a unique fingerprint for each person.

Comparing dental records (antemortem) with those found on the body (postmortem) can be a reliable method of identification, especially if the body has teeth or dental restorations, said Dr Tamorish Kole, renowned health expert and immediate past chair of the Clinical Practice Committee, International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM).

According to the National Disaster Management Guidelines, “Management of the Dead in the Aftermath of Disasters”, an aircraft crash is a closed disaster which results in the deaths of a number of individuals belonging to a fixed, identifiable group (aircraft crash with a passenger list).

“As a rule, comparative antemortem data can be obtained more quickly in the case of closed disasters,” the NDMA guidelines said.

According to the NDMA guidelines, the management of dead bodies involves a series of activities beginning with the search, identification of the body, and its transfer to the facility that serves as a mortuary.

“It also encompasses delivery of the body to family members, and assistance from the State for final disposal of the body, in accordance with the wishes of the family and the religious and cultural norms of the community,” the guidelines said.

However, the procedures get compounded in the case of unidentified bodies when every effort must be made to identify them, necessitating a battery of sophisticated investigations like Fingerprint and DNA profile matching.

“The process requires the involvement of a diverse team of people including search and rescue personnel, medical professionals, forensic medicine experts, police, administrative personnel, psychologists, and support teams for the personnel who are directly handling the bodies, representatives from non-governmental and international organizations, as well as community volunteers,” the NDMA guidelines said.

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