More than 100 people were killed when an Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India’s western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, authorities said, one of the country’s worst aviation disasters.
The police chief in Ahmedabad says there appear to be no survivors from the plane crash, according to reports from the AFP and AP news agencies.
In a post on X, he says: “The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words.
“In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it.
“Have been in touch with ministers and authorities who are working to assist those affected.”
We are now beginning to hear from anxious relatives outside hospitals in Ahmedabad.
Poonam Patel, who is at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, tells news agency ANI that his sister-in-law was on the flight to London.
“Within an hour, I got the news that the plane had crashed. So I came here,” he says.
Ramila says her son had just gone into the doctors’ hostel for a lunch break when the plane crashed there.
She says he jumped from the second floor and suffered injuries, but is safe.
Meanwhile the UK Foreign Office (FCDO) has arranged crisis teams in India and the UK, Foreign Secretary David Lammy says.
He tells the Commons: “My thoughts, and I’m sure those of the entire House, are with those who’ve been affected by the tragic plane crash in India this morning.
“We know that British nationals were on board and I can confirm that the FCDO is working urgently with local authorities to support British nationals and their families, and has stood up a crisis team in both Delhi and in London.”
The plane was headed for Gatwick Airport, south of the British capital, Air India said, while police officers said it crashed in a residential area near the airport.
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More than 100 bodies, most of them badly charred, had been brought to the local government hospital for autopsy, police said.
“The building on which it has crashed is a doctors’ hostel… we have cleared almost 70% to 80% of the area and will clear the rest soon,” a senior police officer told reporters.
Parts of the plane’s body were scattered around the building into which it crashed, photographs and videos from the area showed. The tail of the plane was stuck on top of the building.
India’s CNN News-18 TV channels said the plane crashed on top of the dining area of state-run B.J. Medical College hostel, killing many medical students as well.
The passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, a source told Reuters. Of them, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian, Air India said.
Aviation tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service.
Latest reports say flights have now resumed at the airport in Ahmedabad following the crash.
