Family of 4 Were Vacationing When They Died in Air India Crash, Relatives Say as They Slam U.K. Government for ‘No Support’

Relatives have confirmed a British family of four died on the doomed Air India flight as they slam the British Foreign Office for their lack of support.

Mariam Ali Syed, her husband Javed, and their two children, Zayn, 5, and Amani, 4, were among the 242 people on the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London when it crashed shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, India, on Thursday, June 12 — Yasmine Hassan, Syed’s sister-in-law, told The Telegraph. 

She said Syed, 44, and her family were returning from a vacation in India, adding that Syed worked for the London department store Harrods. 

But Hassan alleged the British Foreign Office has not extended support to the victims’ families, saying there were 53 British nationals on the flight. 

Hassan also told the British newspaper that Sadaf Javed, Syed’s older sister, who resides in London, wants to go to Ahmedabad but received no assistance from the Foreign Office. 

“My sister-in-law, who is one of the passenger’s actual sisters, is saying, ‘I need to get to India. I need to get there as soon as possible. I need to bring my babies home’,” Hassan said, according to The Telegraph. 

On Thursday, Air India announced that it has established friends and relatives assistance centers at Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Gatwick airports “to provide support and take care of the needs of the families and loved ones of those on flight AI171.”

“These centres are facilitating the travel of family members to Ahmedabad,” the airline ‘s statement continued. 

Hassan told The Telegraph that the British Foreign Office has not offered anything similar as far as flying relatives to Ahmedabad. 

“I called the UK Foreign Office to say, ‘We’ve checked online and we can see that Air India has arranged two flights to help people from other parts of India get to Ahmedabad to be with their families. Is the UK doing anything like that?’  “ Hassan recalls. 

Hassan was told by someone at the Foreign Office that they were unaware of that. 

“So then I asked, ‘Is there anyone I can speak to? Someone who might know if they’re waiving visa requirements or offering fast-track visas, or if any emergency flights are being put on?’ Again, she just said, ‘No,’ ” Hassan added. 

She told The Telegraph that she understands the lack of answers from British government officials, realizing that these situations take time. But she said she is angry by the apparent lack of support from the government. 

“We really think people need to know that we’ve had no support – and they’re British citizens. Yet no one from the Government has contacted us to ask, ‘Can we do anything to help?’ ” Hassan said. 

PEOPLE contacted the British Foreign Office on Friday, June 13, for comment. In a statement shared with The Telegraph, a spokesperson from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said, “Our thoughts are with all those affected by the tragic plane crash in India – this is an unfolding situation, and it will undoubtedly be causing a huge amount of worry and concern.”

“FCDO staff are working urgently with local authorities in India and the UK to ensure families and friends are supported in the coming days, whether in the UK or in India,” the statement continued. 

Meanwhile, about 200 relatives of the crash victims have offered DNA samples at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital as part of the identification process, CNN and The New York Times reported.

Among the relatives faced with donating a DNA sample was Sangeeta Gauswami, who saw her 19-year-old son, Sanket, off on the plane for London. 

“We have had no news,” Gauswami said, according to CNN. “We keep asking but no one will tell us.”

Among the other 242 victims from the flight include two doctors and their children and the plane’s captain and first officer, and a couple who shared an Instagram video before boarding the plane. 

Only one person, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British man, survived the crash.