Horrific new blunders in the operation to identify and repatriate victims of the Air India disaster emerged last night as the grim scandal began to widen.
When one family unzipped the body bag shown to them at a mortuary, they were reportedly aghast to find two heads – one belonging to their relative, the other unrecognisable.
And a distraught British widow received the remains of her husband in two coffins, delivered weeks apart, obliging her to cremate him twice.
The heart-rending mix-ups were revealed as a lawyer representing about 30 of the 53 bereaved British families insisted flaws in the process were widespread, with more claims of relatives being given the wrong remains.
While the fiasco has hitherto been blamed on the incompetence of Indian rescue workers and doctors, aviation law specialist Sarah Stewart says some responsibility lies with the team sent by the UK Government to assist them.
