Guwahati: The mortal remains of 23-year-old Nganthoi Sharma Kongbrailatpam, a cabin crew member from Manipur who tragically died in the Air India crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, reached her home state on Sunday.
Her identity was officially confirmed through DNA matching with her father, Kongbrailatpam Nandesh Kumar Sharma.
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Nganthoi had been serving as a cabin crew member on the London-bound Flight AI when the crash killed 241 of the 242 people on board. Only one passenger survived the accident.
Nganthoi was one of two crew members from Manipur on the ill-fated flight. Earlier this week, authorities returned the remains of the other, Lamnunthem Singson, to his hometown in Kangpokpi.
Her family accompanied her remains back to Imphal, where officials at Imphal International Airport organized a solemn and dignified reception. The confirmation, while devastating, provided her family with emotional closure as they prepared to perform her last rites.
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In the days following the crash, Nganthoi’s father publicly criticized Air India for failing to directly contact the family. “We only found out through social media. Air India never informed us officially,” he had said.
The loss of both Nganthoi, who belonged to the Meitei community, and Singson, from the Kuki community, has brought Manipur’s divided ethnic communities together in a rare and heartfelt moment of shared mourning, an emotional pause amid the state’s ongoing unrest.