Air India crash death toll reaches 270 as search for bodies continues
The search for bodies at the site of one of India's worst aviation disasters entered its third day on Saturday, with the death toll climbing as high as 270 and authorities continuing their search for more bodies.
The Air India, London-bound Boeing 787 crashed into a medical college hostel in a residential area of India's Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, killing 241 on board and at least 29 on the ground.
Only one passenger survived, who is currently still under observation for some of his wounds. 'He is doing very well and will be ready to be discharged anytime soon,' said Dr. Dhaval Gameti at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad.
Some relatives of the crash victims expressed frustration on Saturday that the process of identifying and handing over the remains of the dead was taking too long. Authorities say it normally takes up to 72 hours to complete DNA matching with samples provided by relatives, and they are expediting the process.
Meanwhile, the Indian government has formed a high-level, multi-disciplinary committee to look into the causes leading to the crash to go alongside a separate, formal investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.
The committee will focus on formulating procedures to prevent and handle aircraft emergencies in the future and 'will not be a substitute to other enquiries being conducted by relevant organisations," the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement.
Authorities are also inspecting Air India's entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, the country's Miniser of Civil Aviation said in his first news briefing since Thursday's crash.
Israel on Saturday warned of further attacks on Iran following deadly retaliatory strikes on Israel which killed at least three and wounded dozens.
Iranian state television reported that air defence was firing in the cities of Khorramabad, Kermanshah and Tabriz, signalling the start of what could be a new Israeli attack.
Their retaliatory strikes on Saturday morning followed an Israeli assault on Iran targeting key figures in Tehran's nuclear programme and its armed forces the previous day.
Iran's ambassador to the UN says 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded in Friday's strikes.
Israel's defence minister Israel Katz warned that 'Tehran will burn' if Iran continues firing missiles on Israel after at least three people died and dozens were wounded in central Israel on Saturday morning.
The attacks come amid escalating tensions over Tehran's nuclear programme, which Israel says poses an existential threat.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government says the attack on Iran was necessary in order to prevent it from building a nuclear weapon, something Tehran denies seeking - although officials there have at times hinted they could pursue one.
Experts and the US government have, meanwhile, previously assessed that Iran was not working towards developing such a weapon before Friday's strikes.
Both Israel and Iran said the attacks would continue, increasing the chances of further escalation and expansion of the conflict in the wider Middle East region.
Netanyahu said his objective was to eliminate any Iranian threat to Israel.
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