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Row at airport over delay in bringing body

A Correspondent

Aggrieved relatives blame airline officials

NEDUMBASSERY: Unruly scenes were witnessed at the Cochin International Airport in the early hours of Sunday after a row erupted between the relatives of a Malayali, who had died in Saudi Arabia, and the airline authorities over bringing the body.

Joshy (30), hailing from Naduvattom, near Malayattur, had reportedly died in a work-place accident.

His body was brought to Mumbai from Riyadh by Air-India flight AI 820 on Saturday, from where it was to be brought here by an Air-India flight early Sunday.

However, when the flight, AI 690, arrived here at 2.45 a.m., the relatives were told that the body would be brought by another flight later in the day.

The victim's relative Davis, who accompanied the body from Riyadh and arrived by the same flight, said the airport authorities had told him that the body was being carried on the flight.

The victim's relatives were told that the body would be brought by a Jet Airways flight later in the morning.

However, it was not brought on the flight and the airline officials had a tough time convincing them that it would be brought by the afternoon flight.

`Zero tolerance' flight

Air-India Public Relations Officer at the airport Aby George said flight AI 690/691 operating on the Mumbai-Kochi-Mumbai sector was a `zero tolerance' flight, as it provides connection to various European and American destinations, including London and New York.

"We could not delay that service as it would have disrupted the entire travelling schedule of around 110 passengers from Kochi who were to take the connection flights," he said.

Besides, he said, the flight from Riyadh that initially brought the body to Mumbai was delayed leaving no `minimum connectivity' time, which is mandatory between two services, for fulfilling the formalities for taking the body.

"In such instances, the standard procedure followed is to arrange for carrying the body on the first available domestic flight. In this case, as the first Jet Airways service out of Mumbai was operated using a smaller aircraft and was fully booked, we had to wait till the next flight," he said.

Later, the body was brought here by Jet Airways flight, 9W 401, at 12.20 p.m.

Minister's assurance

Union Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed, who happened to pass through the airport on being told about the issue, commented that the incident could not be justified.

He said he would take up the matter with the Civil Aviation Minister to prevent the occurrence of such incidents.

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