April 27, 2026
World
World
WASHINGTON, April 27 — A man accused of targeting US administration officials at a Washington event has been arrested after allegedly opening fire, injuring a Secret Service agent.
LONDON, July 24 — Families of British victims killed in last month’s Air India crash have been left devastated after receiving caskets containing either the wrong remains or mixed human remains, according to a lawyer representing the bereaved and reports from UK media.
James Healy-Pratt, who is acting on behalf of 20 British families affected by the tragedy, revealed that one family received a casket with remains belonging to another individual, while another discovered that the remains were a mixture of DNA from different people.
The fatal crash of a London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner on June 12, shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad, claimed the lives of 241 passengers. Among them were 169 Indian nationals and 52 British citizens, making it one of the deadliest air disasters involving UK victims. Several people on the ground also died, and only one passenger — British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh — survived.
Speaking to the Press Association, Healy-Pratt said a British coroner’s investigation uncovered the disturbing errors.
“In one of the first two caskets repatriated, there was a co-mingling of DNA that did not belong to either of the deceased individuals associated with those caskets,” he explained.
The coroner later confirmed that the remains in one case did not belong to the individual the family believed they were burying.
Miten Patel, whose mother Shobhana Patel died in the crash alongside her husband, told the BBC that her casket contained additional, unidentified remains.
“Everyone was exhausted and under immense pressure, but there still needs to be accountability — the right remains must be sent to grieving families,” he said.
The Daily Mail was the first to report the incidents involving mistaken identity and mixed remains being returned to families in the UK.
In response, India’s foreign ministry stated that all repatriation efforts were handled “with utmost professionalism and with due regard for the dignity of the deceased,” and confirmed continued cooperation with UK authorities to resolve any concerns. — AFP
