An Air India flight carrying 242 people, including international passengers, crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after taking off.
According to BBC, a London-bound flight AI171 carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian on the flight crashed on Thursday, near a major international airport in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was headed to London’s Gatwick Airport when it crashed into a residential area with offices shortly after takeoff.
‘No survivors in the plane crash’
Ahmedabad police commissioner G.S. Malik told The Associated Press, “It appears there are no survivors in the plane crash,” adding that “some locals would have also died.” But the “exact figures on casualties are being ascertained.”
Moreover, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal during the press briefing called the crash “a very tragic incident” that has concerned everyone.
He said, “The rescue operations are on. We need to wait a little more time for exact details to be put out. (But) we have lost a lot of people. We extend our deepest condolences to all those who have lost their loved ones."
Over 50 medical students taken to hospital after crash
The India’s Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) said that some 50 to 60 students were taken to the hospital after the Air India flight crashed into a doctors' hostel.
FAIMA further added that five students are still missing while at least two are in the intensive care unit.
Canada and Portugal react to the plane crash
After the plane carrying seven Portuguese and a Canadian national crashed, the leaders of the two countries expressed their condolences to the families of the victims.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney asserted, “Canada’s transportation officials are in close contact with counterparts, and I am receiving regular updates as the response to this tragedy unfolds."
Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro wrote on X, "On behalf of myself and the government, I would like to express my condolences and deep solidarity with the families of the victims."
Notably, the local police chief said that so far at least 204 bodies had been recovered from the crash site.
