Relatives of victims in the London-bound Air India crash say they faced a wall of silence from the Foreign Office and feel “completely abandoned”.
Miten Patel, whose parents Ashok and Shobhana were among 241 people killed, wrote to the Foreign Secretary on September 12 demanding transparency.
But he and Tom Donaghey - brother of tragic Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, founder of The Wellness Foundry in Ramsgate, Kent and London - said they hadn’t received a response from Yvette Cooper to a joint letter.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet to Gatwick crashed into a medical college shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad Airport on June 12.
Some 169 Indian passengers and 52 British nationals died in the disaster.
The Patels were returning home to Orpington, south east London.
The family of Mr Greenlaw-Meek previously said they had received the wrong body to bury.
Mr Patel and Mr Donaghey told the UK government in their letter that “our own government’s not there to support us, which is very upsetting”.
The pair asked Cooper to demand a full and transparent account from Indian authorities of how the deceased were treated and requested “a clear timeline for answers” so they could “finally begin to grieve properly”.
They wrote: “Not only did we lose our family members in this tragedy but have since endured unimaginable pain of their remains being mishandled, mislabelled, commingled and in one devastating case, completely lost without any explanation or any sort of empathetic response regarding this whatsoever from the authorities in India.
“For the last three months, we have tried to seek answers through the proper channels, but we have been met with silence and empty gestures.
“We cannot mourn in peace until accountability for these wrongs are acknowledged and addressed.”
Mr Patel told BBC London: “You feel like you should have the support from your own government to help you get these answers.
“For us, as average people, how are we supposed to go and ask the questions? We’ll just get the door shut on us.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was approached by the Standard for comment.
But last month a government spokesperson said: “We understand that this is an extremely distressing time for the families, and our thoughts remain with them.
“Foreign Office staff continue to support the families and loved ones in line with our consular remit. We have allocated dedicated caseworkers to each family who wish to have one.
“Formal identification of bodies is a matter for the Indian authorities.
“We continue to liaise with the Government of Gujarat and the Government of India on behalf of the families and the Inner West London Senior Coroner to support the coronial process.”
