On Thursday afternoon, an Air India Boeing 787 flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad. The aircraft was bound for London and carrying 242 passengers and crew. Minutes after taking off, the flight crashed into a doctor’s quarters in a packed residential area.
Multiple fire engines and ambulances are quickly sent to the affected area for rescue operations. In the incident, 241 passengers were found dead, according to a statement confirmed by Air India issued past midnight.
In the past midnight, 265 bodies have been taken to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital after the horrible plane crash. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police Kanan Desai, “265 bodies have reached the hospital as per the message we received”.
The total number of bodies is counted, including those who died in the doctors’ residence.
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said that the crash of the aircraft that was carrying 1.25 lakh litres of fuel generated high heat, so there was a very low chance that anyone could be saved.
However, one person had survived the terrific crash, and his seat number was 11A. He was put under treatment, according to the News Agency PTI. The News Agency later confirmed that Vishwaskumar Ramesh was traveling to London with his brother on that flight.
Further, Mr. Shah declared that he met the only survivor in the hospital. Shah announced a detailed prob regrading the aircraft crash. The final details of the dead, including the eventual number of fatalities, could only be ascertained following a DNA test, as per Mr. Shah.
The pilot of the plane issued a ‘mayday’ Distress call, denoting a full emergency, following the takeoff, as per the Air Traffic Control, Ahmedabad.
As per Air India, among all, 169 passengers were Indians, 53 British, one Canadian, and seven Portuguese.
The former Gujarat Chief Minister, Vijay Rupani, was travelling in the plane, and his demise was later confirmed by the BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed at 1.39 pm while taking off, sending massive billows of smoke near Meghaninagar. Following the terrible plane crash, Ahmedabad International Airport resumed its operations with limited flights.
Shortly after taking off, the Air India plane lost altitude, and it was flying very low.
One eyewitness, Haresh Shah, said that the plane was flying very low and it crashed into the residential quarters of doctors of the government-run college.
Another eyewitness said that several cars and vehicles were parked in the area also caught fire.
Today, a day after the deadly plane crash, Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, landed at the Ahmedabad Airport and headed to meet the injured who are receiving treatment at the city’s Civil Hospital.
The operation for clearing the debris due to the plane crash has been going on since overnight.