NEW DELHI: A London-bound Air India plane carrying 242 people crashed in a residential area minutes after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner (AI171) was seen losing altitude rapidly before crashing into Meghaninagar, close to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, around 2 pm. The crash led to a large fire and thick smoke rising from the site.Air India said the flight was carrying 232 passengers and 10 crew members. Of the passengers, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were British citizens, and one was from Canada.While some media reports initially suggested that there were likely no survivors, Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik later confirmed that one person had been found alive.“The police found one survivor in seat 11A. One survivor has been found in the hospital and is under treatment. Cannot say anything about the number of deaths yet. The death toll may increase as the flight crashed in a residential area,” Malik was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.As per the flight data, the name of the Ahmedabad crash survivor is Ramesh Vishwakumar.
The plane took off at 1.39pm and crashed soon after onto the hostel and residential quarters of doctors and staff members of BJ Medical college and civil hospital in Ahmedabad.Rescue efforts are ongoing, and the number of casualties is yet to be confirmed.
