At the scene in Ahmedabad: 'Everyone is running trying to save as many lives as possible'
AHMEDABAD — The scene in Ahmedabad after the Air India passenger plane crashed shortly after take off is shocking.
A few hours after the accident, smoke can still be seen rising from the ruins of buildings at the crash site. Pictures show a burned bed frame lying in the street.
Everyone is running, trying to save as many lives as possible when the BBC arrives at the scene.
Firefighters can be seen picking their way across the burnt ground, attempting to put out the still smouldering wreckage with their hoses.
Ambulances are all over the area. Roads are blocked.
On the edges, people whose relatives were travelling to London have started to gather.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner came down shortly after take off on Thursday afternoon local time, bound for London Gatwick. There were 242 people on board - mainly Indian nationals, but many British, and some Portuguese and a Canadian as well.
People in the western Indian city heard a loud sound first, then watched black smoke billowing into the sky.
"I was at home when we heard a massive sound," one Ahmedabad resident told Indian news agency PTI.
"When we went out to see what had happened, there was a layer of thick smoke in the air. When we came here, dead bodies and debris from the crashed aircraft were scattered all over."
The plane came down on a doctors' hostel near the Civil Hospital, a short distance from the airport.
It is unclear how many people were inside. According to one eyewitness, people were seen jumping from as high as the third flood "to save themselves".
"The plane was in flames," the unnamed resident told AFP news agency.
"We helped people get out of the building and sent the injured to the hospital."
Ramila told Indian news agency ANI that her son, who had just returned to the hostel for lunch, was among those who jumped.
He suffered injuries, but is safe, she added.
Outside, people started to gather. The fire service was joined by volunteers from the local community.
Photos show people being carried off on stretchers, and placed into ambulances.
But also in the crowds were people whose family members were on board the flight.
Poonam Patel, who is at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, told ANI that his sister-in-law was on the flight to London.
"Within an hour, I got the news that the plane had crashed. So I came here." — BBC
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