Breaking Passenger plane crashes in India, 242 people on board
A plane has crashed shortly after take-off in India with hundreds of people on board.
The Air India flight was departing from the airport in the western city of Ahmedabad.
Police in India said that at least 242 people were on board.
The flight was en route to Gatwick Airport in London.
Air India confirmed that Flight 171, from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, had crashed in a "tragic accident".
"With profound sorrow I confirm that Air India Flight 171 operating Ahmedabad London Gatwick was involved in a tragic accident today," its Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said in a statement.
"Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event," he said, adding that an emergency centre has been activated and a support team set up for families seeking information.
Director General of India's directorate of civil aviation, said that the plane, a Boeing 787, crashed in Meghani Nagar - a residential area - five minutes after taking off.
There were 232 passengers and 12 crew members onboard and emergency teams have been activated at the airport, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai added.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 posted on social media platform X: "We are following reports of a crash of Air India flight #AI171 from Ahmedabad to London.
"We received the last signal from the aircraft at 08:08:51 UTC (shortly before 9.09am Irish time), just seconds after take off.
"The aircraft involved is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with registration VT-ANB."
Gatwick Airport confirmed the plane was due to land at 6.25pm Irish time.
"We can confirm that flight AI171 that crashed on departure from Ahmedabad Airport today was due to land at London Gatwick at 18:25," the airline said on X.
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