This is the first fatal crash involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner since the model was launched commercially in 2011 – Image: CISF/ANI Photo
What you need to know
- A Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, en route to London’s Gatwick Airport
- Some 242 people were on board Air India Flight 171, including 169 Indians, 53 Britons, 7 Portuguese and 1 Canadian
- One passenger survived the crash and was taken to hospital
- Numerous others died when the plan crashed into a medical college hostel
- The cause of the crash has yet to be determined
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the incident was ‘heartbreaking beyond words’
- The crash is the first fatal incident involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner
UPDATE: Death toll rises to at least 240
Indian police said at least 240 people were killed when Air India Flight 171 crashed into a building shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad.
Just one passenger aboard the flight was confirmed to have survived and was taken to hospital.
Authorities are still working to verify the number of dead, including those who were in the building when the plane crashed.
“Most of the bodies have been charred beyond recognition,” Chaudhary said.
Meanwhile, Air India also confirmed that 241 people died out of a total of 242 people on board the flight.
“A team of caregivers from Air India is now in Ahmedabad to provide additional support,” the airline added. “Air India is giving its full cooperation to the authorities investigating this incident.”
UPDATE: Investigators searching for information on plane’s final moments
Hundreds of people have been killed after an Air India Flight 171 crashed just seconds after take-off from Ahmedabad airport. The Boeing 787 was flying to London.
An aviation experts tells DW that investigators will be looking at a potential bird strike, mechanical failure or possible pilot error.
Relatives had been asked to give DNA samples to identify the dead, state health secretary Dhananjay Dwivedi told reporters – Image: Amit Dave/REUTERS
UPDATE: Interior minister rules out possibility of finding more surving passangers
India’s Interior Minister Amit Shah said there was “no chance” of finding any more surviving passengers from the Air India flight that crashed just minutes after taking off from the western city of Ahmedabad.
He spoke after visiting the crash site.
India’s civil aviation authority reported that there were 242 people on board, including two pilots and 10 cabin crew members.
Shah said the retrieval of bodies was almost complete and that DNA samples were being collected from the victims and their families to help identify the deceased.
He also visited the sole survivor of the crash, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, in the hospital, referring to his survival as “good news”.
“He was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body,” Dr Dhaval Gameti, who treated Ramesh, told the Associated Press. “But he seems to be out of danger.”
Ramesh described the aftermath saying he found himself next to debris and bodies and walked to a nearby ambulance that brought him to the hospital
“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran,” he told the newspaper.
UPDATE: Tributes flow after former Gujarat chief minister identified among the dead
Among those who died in the Air India crash in Ahmedabad, in Gujarat, was the state’s former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
He served in office from August 2016 to September 2021.
Rupani was also a senior leader of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
India’s President Droupadi Murmu paid homage to Rupani, saying he “was always committed to people’s welfare.”
“I express my heartfelt condolences to his family and admirers,” she wrote on social media. (DW.com/NAN 13-06-25)
