Death toll in India plane crash rises to at least 279
AHMEDABAD: The death toll from the fiery crash of a London-bound passenger jet in an Indian city climbed to 279 on Saturday as officials sought to match the DNA of victims with their grieving relatives.
The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner issued a mayday call shortly before it crashed around lunchtime on Thursday, bursting into a fireball as it hit residential buildings.
A police source said on Saturday that 279 bodies had been found at the crash site in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, making it one of the worst plane disasters of the 21st century.
'Nobody can fill the void left by loss,' said Imtiyaz Ali, whose younger brother boarded the plane.
'I can't even begin to explain what's going on inside me,' he told AFP.
There was just one survivor out of 242 passengers and crew on board the jet when it crashed, leaving the tailpiece of the aircraft jutting out of a hostel for medical staff.
Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290
Emergency services kept up their recovery efforts on Saturday, extracting a badly burnt body from the tailpiece before cranes were used to remove the wreckage.
At least 38 people were killed on the ground.
'I saw my child for the first time in two years, it was a great time,' said Anil Patel, whose son and daughter-in-law had surprised him with a visit before boarding the Air India flight.
'And now, there is nothing,' he said, breaking down in tears. 'Whatever the gods wanted has happened.'
Search for black box
Distraught relatives of passengers have been providing DNA samples in Ahmedabad, with some having to fly to India to help with the process.
The first body of a passenger to be handed over to relatives was placed in a white coffin on Saturday before being transported in an ambulance with a police escort, footage from the state government showed.
Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian on board the flight, as well as 12 crew members.
The official casualty number will not be finalised until the slow process of DNA identification is completed.
Those killed ranged from a top politician to a teenage tea seller.
The lone survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, said even he could not explain how he survived.
'Initially, I too thought that I was about to die, but then I opened my eyes and realised that I was still alive,' Ramesh, a British citizen, told national broadcaster DD News from his hospital bed.
Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on Friday that a flight data recorder, or black box, had been recovered, saying it would 'significantly aid' investigations.
Forensic teams are still looking for the second black box as they probe why the plane lost height and crashed straight after takeoff.
The aviation minister said on Saturday that authorities 'felt the need to do an extended surveillance of the Boeing 787 planes', with eight out of Air India's 34 Dreamliners inspected so far.
Officials will take 'whatever necessary steps are needed' to determine the cause of the disaster as soon as possible, he said.
The US planemaker said it was in touch with Air India and stood 'ready to support them' over the incident. A source close to the case said it was the first 787 Dreamliner crash.
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Business Recorder
14 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Death toll in India plane crash rises to at least 279
AHMEDABAD: The death toll from the fiery crash of a London-bound passenger jet in an Indian city climbed to 279 on Saturday as officials sought to match the DNA of victims with their grieving relatives. The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner issued a mayday call shortly before it crashed around lunchtime on Thursday, bursting into a fireball as it hit residential buildings. A police source said on Saturday that 279 bodies had been found at the crash site in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, making it one of the worst plane disasters of the 21st century. 'Nobody can fill the void left by loss,' said Imtiyaz Ali, whose younger brother boarded the plane. 'I can't even begin to explain what's going on inside me,' he told AFP. There was just one survivor out of 242 passengers and crew on board the jet when it crashed, leaving the tailpiece of the aircraft jutting out of a hostel for medical staff. Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, kills over 290 Emergency services kept up their recovery efforts on Saturday, extracting a badly burnt body from the tailpiece before cranes were used to remove the wreckage. At least 38 people were killed on the ground. 'I saw my child for the first time in two years, it was a great time,' said Anil Patel, whose son and daughter-in-law had surprised him with a visit before boarding the Air India flight. 'And now, there is nothing,' he said, breaking down in tears. 'Whatever the gods wanted has happened.' Search for black box Distraught relatives of passengers have been providing DNA samples in Ahmedabad, with some having to fly to India to help with the process. The first body of a passenger to be handed over to relatives was placed in a white coffin on Saturday before being transported in an ambulance with a police escort, footage from the state government showed. Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian on board the flight, as well as 12 crew members. The official casualty number will not be finalised until the slow process of DNA identification is completed. Those killed ranged from a top politician to a teenage tea seller. The lone survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, said even he could not explain how he survived. 'Initially, I too thought that I was about to die, but then I opened my eyes and realised that I was still alive,' Ramesh, a British citizen, told national broadcaster DD News from his hospital bed. Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on Friday that a flight data recorder, or black box, had been recovered, saying it would 'significantly aid' investigations. Forensic teams are still looking for the second black box as they probe why the plane lost height and crashed straight after takeoff. The aviation minister said on Saturday that authorities 'felt the need to do an extended surveillance of the Boeing 787 planes', with eight out of Air India's 34 Dreamliners inspected so far. Officials will take 'whatever necessary steps are needed' to determine the cause of the disaster as soon as possible, he said. The US planemaker said it was in touch with Air India and stood 'ready to support them' over the incident. A source close to the case said it was the first 787 Dreamliner crash.
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
Rescue teams search wreckage after Air India crash in Ahmedabad kills over 240
[1/10] Kalpeshbhai Patni, 28, mourns as he sits outside the postmortem room at a hospital, for his brother Akash Patni, 14, who died when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane crashed during take-off from an airport, in Ahmedabad, India, June 13, 2025. Photo:REUTERS Listen to article Rescue workers searched for missing people and aircraft parts in the charred buildings of a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad on Friday after an Air India plane crash killed more than 240 people in the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 242 people on board bound for Gatwick Airport south of London took off over a residential area and then disappeared from view before a huge fireball was seen rising into the sky from beyond the houses, CCTV footage showed. Only one passenger survived after it crashed onto the hostel during lunch hour, causing deaths on the ground as well, which local media has put as high as 24. Reuters could not immediately verify the number. Rescue workers had completed combing the crash site and were now searching for missing people and bodies in the buildings as well as for aircraft parts that could help explain why the plane crashed soon after taking off. Local newspaper Hindustan Times reported that one of two black boxes from the plane had been found. Reuters could not verify the report and the paper did not say whether the flight data recorder or the cockpit voice recorder had been recovered. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefed by officials on the progress of rescue operations when he visited the crash site in his home state of Gujarat on Friday. Modi also met some of the injured being treated in the hospital. "The scene of devastation is saddening," he said in a post on X. Visited the crash site in Ahmedabad today. The scene of devastation is saddening. Met officials and teams working tirelessly in the aftermath. Our thoughts remain with those who lost their loved ones in this unimaginable tragedy. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 13, 2025 Residents living in the vicinity said that construction of the hostel for resident doctors was completed only a year ago and the buildings were not fully occupied. "We were at home and heard a massive sound, it appeared like a big blast. We then saw very dark smoke which engulfed the entire area," said 63-year-old Nitin Joshi, who has been living in the area for more than 50 years. Parts of the plane's fuselage were scattered around the smouldering building into which it crashed. The tail of the plane was stuck on top of the building. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that an investigation into the crash was focusing on "whether the aircraft had a loss or reduction in engine thrust", citing unnamed sources. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report. Air India Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson also arrived in Ahmedabad in the early hours of Friday. The company said the lone survivor, a British national, was undergoing treatment in the hospital. The man told Indian media how he had heard a loud noise shortly after Flight AI171 took off. Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer, said on Thursday the death toll was more than 240, revising down a previous toll of 294 as it included body parts that had been double counted. The dead included Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat state, of which Ahmedabad is the main city. "Almost 70% of the passengers were found in their seats, most of them had their seatbelts on," a first responder told local newspaper Indian Express. Air India has said the investigation would take time. Planemaker Boeing has said a team of experts is ready to go to India to help in the probe. While Air India is not publicly traded, shares of rival airline IndiGo parent Interglobe Aviation and SpiceJet were both down 4% in early Friday trade. Boeing's shares fell 5% in the crash's wake on Thursday. It was the first crash for the Dreamliner, a wide-body airliner that began flying commercially in 2011, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. The plane that crashed on Thursday flew for the first time in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014, Flightradar24 said. The last fatal plane crash in India, the world's third-largest aviation market and its fastest growing, was in 2020 and involved Air India Express, the airline's low-cost arm. The formerly state-owned Air India was taken over by Indian conglomerate Tata Group in 2022, and merged with Vistara - a joint venture between the group and Singapore Airlines – in 2024.
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
Air India flight from Phuket makes emergency landing after bomb threat
An Air India passenger plane takes off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad January 30, 2013. REUTERS/Amit Dave/Files Listen to article An Air India flight from Phuket to New Delhi was forced to make an emergency landing on Friday after receiving a bomb threat, according to airport authorities. The aircraft, AI 379, had taken off from Phuket at 9:30 a.m. local time (0230 GMT) but made a wide loop over the Andaman Sea and returned to the southern Thai island. 🚨 HUGE! Air India flight AI379, en route from Phuket, Thailand to Delhi, made an EMERGENCY landing after a BOMB THREAT was reported onboard. — The aircraft landed SAFELY, all passengers and crew are SAFE, and NO injuries have been reported. — Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) June 13, 2025 Upon landing, all 156 passengers were promptly escorted from the plane as part of emergency protocols. Airports of Thailand (AOT) officials confirmed that no injuries were reported, and the passengers were safely evacuated. This incident follows a fatal crash involving another Air India flight in Ahmedabad on Thursday, which resulted in over 240 deaths. AOT has not disclosed further details on the bomb threat, and Air India has yet to respond to inquiries about the matter. Bomb threats targeting Indian airlines and airports have been a significant issue in recent years. In 2023 alone, nearly 1,000 hoax bomb threats were made to Indian airlines, marking a sharp increase in such incidents. Yesterday, A London-bound passenger jet crashed in a residential area in the Indian city of Ahmedabad, killing at least 265 people on board and the ground — but one passenger is believed to have survived. An AFP journalist witnessed bodies being recovered from the crash site, where the back of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 242 passengers and crew, was seen hanging over the edge of a building it struck around lunchtime. Read more: 265 perish in India's worst air disaster He also saw a building engulfed in flames after the crash, with thick black smoke rising into the air, and a section of the plane scattered on the ground. "One half of the plane crashed into the residential building where doctors lived with their families," said Krishna, a doctor who did not give his full name. "The nose and front wheel landed on the canteen building where students were having lunch," he said. The government opened a formal investigation into the cause of the crash, and rescue teams worked into Friday morning, scouring the charred wreckage with sniffer dogs.
