Ahmedabad Plane Crash Live Updates: Gujarat Admin To Hand Over Identified Bodies To Families Today

NDTV

15 hours ago

Ahmedabad Plane Crash Live Updates: The bodies of the 274 victims of the Ahmedabad plane crash, who have been identified, are set to be handed over to their families by the Gujarat government on Sunday, sources said.
Nearly 600 doctors, assistants and drivers have been roped in to hand over the bodies, identified through DNA testing, outside Ahmedabad civil hospital, the sources added.
On Thursday, at least 274 people were killed in one of India's deadliest plane crashes involving a London-bound Air India flight. AI 171 - belonging to Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 fleet - crashed seconds after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. Officials said the aircraft lost altitude soon after taking off at around 1.30 pm. It crashed into the residential quarters of BJ Medical College before going up in flames, sending plumes of thick black smoke spiralling up in the air.
The pilot had issued a 'Mayday' distress call, denoting a full emergency, soon after takeoff, the Air Traffic Control at Ahmedabad said. Sources said the casualties include the passengers and crew on board AI 171, and local residents on ground.
1st Responder Was Having Lunch At Hostel Where Air India Plane Crashed In Ahmedabad
108 Ambulance driver Satinder Singh Sandhu was having lunch when he heard a loud explosion. One look outside one of the hostels of the BJ Medical College campus and he saw the makings of a great tragedy - thick black smoke and chaos. His phone rang and he rushed to the place where the smoke was emanating from to find an aircraft crashed and on fire.
The first person Mr Sandhu saw emerging from the crash site was a heavily burnt security guard. He told NDTV that he also saw the lone survivor of the crashed AI171 aircraft walking from the plane and then attempting to go back to save his relative on board. Unfortunately, Vishwas Kumar Ramesh's relative was among the 241 on board that died in Thursday's crash. The ambulance driver then rushed Mr Ramesh to the hospital, where he underwent treatment.
Ahmedabad Plane Crash: Priyanka Gandhi Calls For Corrective Measures
Congress general secretary and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday said that once the reason for the Ahmedabad plane crash is found, corrective measures need to be taken to protect lives in the future.
"We should be united in our grief and provide as much solidarity as we can to the families of the passengers and others, including medical students, who lost their lives in the incident. It is a moment where we need to stand together and just provide solidarity," she said.
The Congress MP further said that it was also important to find "what went wrong".
"It is being investigated. I am sure the investigating agencies will in the next few days enlighten the nation as to what happened. Then in the future, whatever corrective measures need to be taken, will be taken to protect people and lives," she said.