An Air India plane headed to London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off in India’s western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, the airline and police said.
India’s federal health minister confirmed that “many people” had been killed in the incident and that the death toll was expected to climb, as emergency workers rushed to the scene to clear debris and search for survivors.
More than 100 bodies were brought to a nearby hospital in Ahmedabad from the site of the crash, local authorities told the Reuters news agency.
Police said the plane, which was headed for Gatwick Airport, crashed in a residential area near Ahmedabad Airport.
“The building on which it has crashed is a doctors’ hostel,” a senior police officer told reporters. Rescue workers said that at least 30 to 35 dead bodies had already been recovered from the site and that more people were trapped.
Of the 242 people on the flight, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were British, seven were Portuguese, and one was Canadian, according to the airline. At least 11 of the passengers were children, a source told Reuters.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the crash was “heartbreaking beyond words” and had “stunned and saddened” the nation in a statement on X.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the news as “devastating” and said that he was being kept updated as the situation developed.
“My thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time,” Starmer added.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson confirmed King Charles was also receiving updates about the crash.
Aviation tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service.
“At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates,” Air India said on X. “The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals.”
A spokesperson from Boeing said the company was working to gather information about the crash.
‘Crashed on departure’
In a statement on X, Gatwick Airport confirmed that “flight AI171,” which was due to land at London Gatwick at 6.25 pm (GMT), had “crashed on departure from Ahmedabad Airport”.
Television channels showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then disappearing from the screen before a huge jet of fire rose into the sky from beyond the houses.
Visuals showed debris on fire, with thick black smoke rising into the sky near the airport and people being rushed away from the site in ambulances.
According to air traffic control at Ahmedabad airport, the aircraft departed at 1.39 pm (7.09pm AEDT) from runway 23. It gave a “Mayday” call, signalling an emergency, but afterwards there was no response from the aircraft.
Flightradar24 also said that it received the last signal from the aircraft seconds after it took off.
“Rescue teams have been mobilised, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site,” India’s aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu said in a televised address.
“My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families.”
