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The Boeing 787, set for London, collided with a medical college dormitory in a residential section of Ahmedabad’s northwest shortly after departing on Thursday. The tragic event resulted in the deaths of 241 people on board and at least 29 residents.
Hundreds of relatives of the crash victims provided DNA samples at the hospital.
Most of the bodies were charred or mutilated, making them unrecognisable.
Rajneesh Patel, an official at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, stated that authorities have managed to identify 32 victims using DNA mapping, and their families have been notified.
He said the remains of 14 victims were handed over to relatives.
Apocalyptic scenes after horror Air India crash
Most of them have expressed frustration at the slow pace of the identification process.
Authorities say it normally takes up to 72 hours to complete DNA matching and they are expediting the process.
Among the passengers, 169 were Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.
Qasim Rashid Ahmed, a British citizen with Indian roots, whose charity assisted the victims’ families by providing food and lodging, mentioned that many of the British casualties had family connections in Gujarat state and had submitted their DNA samples for identification purposes.
Alongside the formal investigation, the Indian government has set up a high-level committee to examine the causes leading to the crash.
The committee will focus on formulating procedures to prevent and handle aircraft emergencies in the future, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement on Saturday.
Authorities have also begun inspecting Air Indiaâs entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on Saturday in New Delhi at his first news briefing since Thursdayâs crash.
Eight of the 34 Dreamliners in India have already undergone inspection, Kinjarapu said, adding that the remaining aircraft will be examined with âimmediate urgencyâ.
Investigators on Friday recovered the planeâs digital flight data recorder, or the black box, from a rooftop near the crash site.
The device is expected to reveal information about the engine and control settings, while the voice recorder will provide cockpit conversations, said Paul Fromme, a mechanical engineer with the UK-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
The plane that crashed was 12 years old.
Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft.
There are currently around 1200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation, according to experts.
