Ahmedabad police chief says 204 bodies found after India plane crash
AHMEDABAD: Police in the Indian city of Ahmedabad said they had collected 204 dead bodies after a London-bound passenger plane with 242 people on board crashed into residential buildings after takeoff on Thursday.
'We have found 204 bodies,' city police commissioner GS Malik told AFP, adding that 41 injured people were 'under treatment'.
The dead included those from the plane crash and from buildings into which the plane smashed. 'Rescue work is ongoing,' he said.
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The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Rescue teams race against time
A man mourning the death of his 14-year-old brother, who was sleeping on the ground when the plane crashed. — AFP Rescue teams with sniffer dogs combed the crash site of the London-bound passenger jet which ploughed into a residential area of Ahmedabad city, killing at least 265 people on board and on the ground. One man aboard the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – carrying 242 passengers and crew – miraculously survived the fiery crash, which left the tailpiece of the aircraft jutting out of the second floor of a hostel for medical staff from a nearby hospital. The nose and front wheel landed on a canteen building where students were having lunch, witnesses said. Deputy Commissioner of Police Kanan Desai said that 265 bodies had so far been counted – suggesting at least 24 people died on the ground – but the toll may rise as more body parts are recovered. 'The official number of deceased will be declared only after DNA testing is completed', Home Minister Amit Shah said in a statement, adding that 'families whose relatives are abroad have already been informed, and their DNA samples will be taken'. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited the devastated neighbourhood where Air India flight 171 went down. The airline said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian on board the flight bound for London's Gatwick airport, as well as 12 crew members. Combing through: Rescue officials carrying a victim's body at the site where Air India Flight 171 crashed in Ahmedabad. — AFP In Ahmedabad, disconsolate relatives of passengers gathered yesterday at an emergency centre to give DNA samples so their loved ones could be identified. Ashfaque Nanabawa, 40, said he had come to find his cousin Akeel Nanabawa, who had been aboard with his wife and three-year-old daughter. They had spoken as his cousin sat in the plane, just before takeoff. 'He called us and he said: 'I am in the plane and I have boarded safely and everything is okay.' That was his last call.' One woman, too grief-stricken to give her name, said her son-in-law had been killed. 'My daughter doesn't know that he's no more,' she said, wiping away tears. 'I can't break the news to her, can someone else do that please?' The plane crashed less than a minute after takeoff at around lunchtime on Thursday, after lifting barely 100m from the ground. The plane issued a mayday call and 'crashed immediately after takeoff,' the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said. Ahmedabad is home to around eight million people and its busy airport is surrounded by densely packed residential areas. '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. US planemaker Boeing said it was in touch with Air India and stood 'ready to support them' over the incident, which a source close to the case said was the first crash for a 787 Dreamliner. The UK and US air accident investigation agencies announced that they were dispatching teams to support their Indian counterparts. Tata Group, owners of Air India, offered financial aid of 10 million rupees (RM494,000) to 'the families of each person who has lost their life in this tragedy', as well as funds to cover medical expenses of those injured. Experts said it was too early to speculate on what may have caused Thursday's crash. 'It is very unlikely that the plane was overweight or carrying too much fuel,' said Jason Knight, a senior lecturer in fluid mechanics at the University of Portsmouth. 'The aircraft is designed to be able to fly on one engine, so the most likely cause of the crash is a double engine failure. 'The most likely cause of a double engine failure is a bird strike.' India's airline industry has boomed in recent years with Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (Iata), last month calling it 'nothing short of phenomenal'. The growth of its economy has made India and its 1.4 billion people the world's fourth-largest air market – domestic and international – with Iata projecting it will become the third biggest within the decade. — AFP
The Star
an hour ago
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Sole survivor tells of miraculous escape
The man who cheated death: Vishwash (right) getting a visit from Modi at a hospital in Ahmedabad. — AFP The lone survivor of 242 people aboard a London-bound passenger plane that crashed in the Indian city of Ahmedabad said even he was struggling to explain how he miraculously walked out alive from the fireball explosion. 'Everything happened in front of me, and even I couldn't believe how I managed to come out alive from that,' British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh said from his hospital bed yesterday, speaking in Hindi to national broadcaster DD News. The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane, which was full of fuel as it took off for a long-haul flight to London, exploded into a burst of orange flame on Thursday afternoon just after taking off. Vishwash – who was in seat 11A according to media reports – was the only one aboard the plane not to be killed, with at least 24 others killed on the ground. His brother was also on the same flight, his family in Britain told reporters. 'Within a minute after takeoff, suddenly... it felt like something got stuck... I realised something had happened, and then suddenly the plane's green and white lights turned on,' Vishwash said. 'After that, the plane seemed to speed up, heading straight towards what turned out to be a hostel of a hospital. Everything was visible in front of my eyes when the crash happened.' Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a visit to Vishwash at the hospital where he is being treated for burns and other injuries, footage on his YouTube channel showed. Vishwash, 40, is from Leicester, according to Britain's Press Association news agency, which spoke with his family at home. The plane smashed into the buildings just outside the perimeter of the airport. 'Initially, I too thought that I was about to die, but then I opened my eyes and realised that I was still alive. 'I saw the air hostess and aunties and uncles all in front of me,' he said, his voice trailing off in emotion, using a term of respect used in India for older people. 'I unfastened my seatbelt and tried to escape, and I did. 'I think the side I was on was not facing the hostel,' he added. 'Where I landed was closer to the ground and there was space too, and when my door broke, I saw that there was space and I thought I could try to slip out.' Videos shared on social media showed Vishwash soon after, dressed in a bloodied T-shirt and limping towards an ambulance. 'My left hand got slightly burnt due to the fire, but an ambulance brought me to the hospital,' he said. 'The people here are taking good care of me.' — AFP
New Straits Times
11 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Joy and grief for lone India crash survivor's family
LEICESTER, United Kingdom: The UK-based family of the lone survivor of the Air India crash were torn on Friday between joy at his miracle escape and grief at the loss of his brother. "We are happy Vishwash has been saved, but on the other hand we are just heartbroken about Ajay," his cousin told AFP outside the family home in central Leicester. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, is believed to be the only person to have survived the crash when Air India Flight 171 plummeted from the sky shortly after taking off from the northern Indian city of Ahmedabad. His brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh, was on the same flight but is believed to have perished in the disaster. There were 242 passengers and crew on the plane, including 53 British citizens. At least 24 people were killed on the ground, officials said, after the aeroplane landed on a canteen building where students were having lunch. Since Thursday's tragedy, the small Leicester street where Ramesh's parents and younger brother lived has been flooded with visitors. Ramesh lives not far away with his wife and son, his cousin Hiren Kantilal, 19, told AFP. Ajay also lived in the town, one of the oldest in England, and the two brothers ran a confectionery business together. "They are wonderful people, and heartful people. They are the greatest men I have ever seen in my life, both of them," said Kantilal. The brothers were returning to the UK after spending a few weeks on holiday in India, and the family had been waiting to go and pick them up at Gatwick Airport. Shortly after the crash, they were shocked when Ramesh, who had reportedly been in seat 11A, called his father to say he was alive. Ajay was seated at the other end of the row. "Our plane has been crashed," Ramesh told his dad, according to his cousin. "He was bleeding all over him, in the face and everything, and he said: 'I am just waiting for my brother and I don't know how I got out of the plane'. "He said: 'Do not worry about me, try to find out about Ajay Kumar,' and he said: 'I am totally fine'." Kantilal said his cousin had waited for about 10 to 15 minutes seeking his brother, and then was whisked away to hospital by the rescue services. Images which went viral on social media apparently showed Ramesh walking away from the wreckage of the 787-8 Boeing Dreamliner, and have been splashed across the front pages of British media along with a photo of him in his hospital bed. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a visit to Ramesh on Friday at the hospital where he is being treated for burns and other injuries, footage on his YouTube channel showed. "Everything happened in front of me, and even I couldn't believe how I managed to come out alive from that," Ramesh said from his hospital bed, speaking in Hindi to national broadcaster DD News. His parents had also been desperately trying to contact his brother Ajay on Thursday. "The call was going through, but no-one was answering the call," Kantilal said. At the family home, relatives were frantically scanning their phones to try to buy a flight to Ahmedabad later on Friday afternoon. Downing Street said that the foreign ministry had been in touch with Ramesh to offer him consular assistance.
