A passenger listed among the deceased was discovered alive in a Tyumen region hospital a week after a deadly plane crash that killed 31.
Hospital officials said DNA testing confirmed that Dmitry Ivanyuta, 25, was actually in the hospital’s intensive care unit under the name of a passenger who perished in the crash.
Sergei Tsarik, deputy chief of surgery at Tyumen Region Hospital No. 2, said Ivanyuta was checked in under the name of Konstantin Peil, and hospital staff had been too busy treating him to verify his identity.
“Most likely the mistake occurred during the transportation,” he said, Interfax reported.
He said Ivanyuta’s injuries rendered his face unrecognizable at the time of admission.
Ivanyuta’s sister later recognized him, and Peil’s parents immediately requested the DNA test that revealed the mix-up.
Denis Trushnikov, a former professor and teacher of Ivanyuta, first broke the news on the social-networking site Vkontakte.
“Everybody! Dima Ivanyuta survived! So many days in the intensive care unit under a different name and now the news! He’s alive! Pray for him! God willing, everything will be fine!” he wrote.
Peil’s family held a funeral for him Monday, Interfax said.
The 12 people who survived the crash are recovering slowly.
Tsarik said that only three of them have been removed from intensive care a week after the accident.
A UTair-operated ATR 72 crashed just minutes after takeoff from the city of Tyumen on April 2, killing 31 of the 43 on board. Ice is considered a possible reason for the crash.
Authorities have ordered that all ATR 72 aircraft still in use by UTair be grounded until the exact cause of the crash is determined.
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