‘No Survivors’: Air India Flight Bound For London Crashes Minutes After Take-Off With 242 Aboard AP IMAGESZ

There are reportedly no survivors after an Air India Boeing 787-8 bound for London with 242 people aboard, including 53 citizens of the United Kingdom, crashed minutes after take-off in Gujarat on Thursday.

A passenger flight from India to Britain crashed on Thursday morning. At the time of publication no death toll or number of injured has been given, but the incident appears to have been very severe, with scattered wreckage spread across damaged and collapsed city buildings.

It is stated the aircraft was fully fuelled for a long-haul journey, which contributed to a large fire at the site of the crash.

Update 1310 BST — “No Survivors”

Tragic news from Gujarat as the Associated Press relates it has been told by Ahmedabad city police commissioner G.S. Malik that “It appears there are no survivors in the plane crash”, and given the aircraft landed on a residential area, “some locals would have also died”, suggesting the death toll will exceed 242.

While it was earlier reported the jet crashed within five minutes of taking off, the crash site is actually only a very short distance from the end of the runway and it is now stated the flight came down after less than a minute in the air. The captain was stated to be an experienced pilot with thousands of hours of flight time.

 

Update 1215 BST — Full Passenger Manifest Released

In an unusual move, the Indian government has made the full passenger manifest publicly available. Per The Times of India, one of those aboard in business class was the former Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani of the Hindu-conservative-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Guardian cites local rescue workers who said “30 bodies” have been recovered from the crash.

Read the original report below

Air India said in a statement that flight AI171, from Ahmedabad, the largest city in the state of Gujarat, to London Gatwick, was “involved in an accident today after take-off”. The airline said of their manifest that 242 passengers and crew were aboard and of them 169 were Indian nationals, 53 citizens of the United Kingdom, seven Portuguese citizens, and one Canadian.

The airline said “The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals.”

The flight was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. The Times of India reports that Captain Sumeet Sabharwal sounded the mayday by radio after take-off, and the jet had crashed into the Meghani Nagar neighbourhood of Ahmedabad within five minutes of leaving the ground. The paper published images of the tail-cone of the Boeing embedded in the roof of a building.

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a statement: “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.”

 

This story is developing, more follows

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