Relatives wait as authorities work to identify bodies

 Relatives wait as authorities work to identify bodies

It's approaching 1:30 in India, but it does not seem so outside the post-mortem room at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad.

Families and friends of those who’ve lost their lives in the crash wait to claim their bodies, but identification has become a difficult task. Authorities are trying to use DNA sampling, but the process is taking time.

Outside the hospital, the BBC’s team meets T. Thanglingo Haokip, whose cousin, Singson, was cabin crew on Air India flight 171.

Speaking to the BBC, Haokip explains that he has been trying for hours to get some information about Singson but has been unsuccessful.

He says: “Her parents are worried. She only has a mother, her father passed away. Her brother has cancer. She was the only breadwinner in the family. Her family was wholly dependent on her."

There’s been a steady stream of bodies coming into the hospital for post-mortems after the crash.

“Ever since the bodies started coming in, we’ve been examining them. We are exhausted. We have lost track of time," a doctor in the hospital tells us.