Air India crash: 'Missing' medical hostel cook, her granddaughter confirmed dead after DNA match

A 52-year-old 'missing' woman, employed as a cook at the mess at a medical hostel complex here, the site of the Air India plane crash, and her granddaughter were confirmed dead after a DNA test, her family said.

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Bodies of Sarlaben Thakor, who was working at the complex for the last 15 years, and her two-year-old granddaughter Aadhya were handed over to their family members on Thursday at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital.

"After the DNA test, the bodies of my mother Sarlaben and daughter Aadhya were handed over to us on Thursday. With a heavy heart, we cremated them the same day," Ravi Thakor, son of the woman, told reporters.

For the last 15 years, Ravi Thakor along with his family, including his deceased mother, and wife Lalita, used to cook food for students at the hostel mess of BJ Medical College situated in Meghaninagar.

On June 12, just before the crash, Ravi and Lalita Thakor left the mess for Civil Hospital, situated nearly 500 m away, to deliver tiffins for senior resident doctors, while Aadhya and Sarlaben remained at the mess.

"We left the mess at around 1 pm to deliver tiffins at the hospital. At around 1:40 pm, a plane suddenly smashed into the mess as well as the adjoining hostel building, and the entire area was engulfed in fire. When we reached the spot, my mother and daughter were missing while all other women working in the mess managed to come out," said Ravi Thakor.

After the crash, Ravi and his wife frantically searched but failed to locate them. "My son was also in that building when the plane crashed. Luckily, he took cover inside the laundry shop of the hostel and then came out safely. After failing to locate my daughter and mother-in-law, we registered a missing persons' complaint and gave our DNA samples for matching with bodies," she said.

Finally, a week after the crash, doctors matched the DNA samples with the mortal remains of Sarlaben and Aadhya, and handed them over to the family on Thursday after establishing their identity.