The Indian Coast Guard on Monday said that it has sent for DNA test the human remains found during a search operation for the one missing crew member of a helicopter that crashed off the Mumbai coast on Saturday, The Indian Express reported.
Seven people – two pilots and five employees of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation – were on board the Pawan Hans helicopter when the accident took place. Six bodies have been recovered till now. “Some body parts were found yesterday [Sunday] while more were traced this morning,” the daily quoted an unidentified Coast Guard official as saying.
The remains will be used to identify if they are that of the missing crew member using the DNA samples provided by the next of kin. The DNA testing will be done at the RN Cooper Municipal General Hospital in Mumbai’s Juhu area.
The Coast Guard had found the helicopter’s aircraft voice data recorder on Sunday. It is carrying out the search operation along with the Navy. The ONGC too has deployed nine vessels to help with the search efforts.
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