British nationals' remains are among the unidentified more than a week after Air India crash as death toll continues to climb
The remains of four UK nationals from doomed Air India flight 171 have yet to be identified, more than a week after the crash.
There were 53 Britons onboard the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed shortly after taking off from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on June 12.
The remains of 26 victims have so far been flown to their families, including 10 to the United Kingdom.
All but one of the 242 people on board flight 171 were killed when the Air India plane smashed into a residential area of Ahmedabad, where at least 38 more died.
Such was the level of destruction that more than two dozen believed killed remain unidentified 10 days after the jet came down.
So far more than 250 people killed in an India plane crash have been identified through DNA testing, a hospital official said Sunday as specialists near a final toll for one of the worst air disasters in decades.
'The results of the DNA sample matches for 251 have arrived,' said Rakesh Joshi, medical superintendent at Ahmedabad's civil hospital.
The remains of 245 of them have been handed to relatives and include 176 Indians, 49 British, seven Portuguese, one Canadian, and 12 identified publicly only as non-passengers.
'In my opinion, the DNA matching process will soon be completed,' Joshi said in a video message.
'We are with the remaining families who will be informed by phone as soon as possible,' he added.
Air India said Thursday the plane was 'well-maintained' and that the pilots were accomplished flyers.
Investigators have retrieved the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder for analysis, as they attempt to find out what caused the London-bound jet to hurtle to the ground moments after takeoff.
British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40 from Leicester, was named as the sole survivor of the crash.
He was discharged from hospital to be a pallbearer at the funeral of his brother.
Survivor Vishwash's brother Ajaykumar accompanied him on the flight but was sat on the other side of the aisle in seat 11J and sadly perished in the explosion
Relations of the 53 Britons on board have since paid tribute to the nurses, teachers, lovers, parents, children and friends whose lives were tragically cut short last week.
Vishwash's brother Ajaykumar who accompanied him on the flight and was sat on the other side of the aisle in seat 11J, but sadly perished
Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek and husband Jamie lived in London and ran a wellness and healthy lifestyle company.
The couple posted a haunting video of themselves at the airport waiting to board the doomed Gatwick-bound Air India flight that crashed moments after it took off.
The couple are believed to have been in India for around two weeks and in a series of social media posts captured the happy time they had.
This included getting henna tattoos, shopping for fine fabrics and other gifts and driving through chaotic traffic in a tuk-tuk.
They arrived in Ahmedabad just a day before flying back with Fiongal posting in a video: 'So, it's our last night in India and we've had a magical experience.
'Some mind-blowing things have happened. We are going to put all this together and create a vlog. It's my first ever vlog about the whole trip and we want to share it.'
Jamie revealed what a memorable trip they had both had.
He beamed: 'We have been on quite a journey and then spending our last night here in this beautiful hotel, it's really been great way to round off the trip.'
Other victims include Arjun Patoliya, from Edgeware in London, who had travelled to India to fulfil his late wife's final wishes, scattering her ashes in a river in the village where they both grew up.
Bharatiben Patel, known as Bharti, 43, had died just three weeks before the crash.
Their two children, aged four and eight, were left orphaned after Mr Patoliya was killed.
Mr Patoliya had studied at Liverpool John Moores University and worked as a furniture designer.
Witnesses of the deadly crash could do nothing but watch in horror as a fireball, fuelled by enough kerosene to carry a plane from the Indian city of Ahmedabad to London Gatwick on a non-stop nine hour and 50 minute journey, towered above them.
As plumes of acrid, black smoke billowed above Ahmedabad, horror spread across the city after people realised that a plane had crashed into the dense residential area of Meghani Naga, less than a minute after taking off from a nearby airport.
That horror quickly spread around the world, with the crash making headlines globally.
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