Video. Indian PM Narendra Modi visits site of Air India crash in Ahmedabad
The London-bound 787 Dreamliner crashed into a medical school minutes after departure, killing at least 260 people, including nearly all 242 on board. One passenger miraculously survived.
Flames tore through the building, claiming more lives on the ground. The exact number of casualties is still unknown.
Modi, accompanied by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, met emergency teams and pledged full support to the victims' families.
Rescue operations remain underway, as crews sift through debris. 'It's a tragedy we won't forget,' said one rescuer.
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France 24
a day ago
- France 24
'Bodies everywhere': Rescuers, lone survivor describe horror of India plane crash site
Volunteers who rushed to help after a passenger jet crashed into a residential neighbourhood of India 's Ahmedabad city described Friday the intense fireball they faced – and the challenge ahead to identify the bodies of at least 265 victims. Bharat Solanki, 51, was working at a fuel station when the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – carrying 242 passengers and crew – took off from nearby Ahmedabad airport around lunchtime on Thursday. Less than a minute later it ploughed into a residential area, bursting into searing flames with what residents described as an ear-splitting blast. All but one aboard the plane was killed, and at least 24 others died on the ground. Solanki and a couple of friends rushed to the site. "We saw bodies everywhere – they were in pieces, fully burnt," he said, recalling the horror of the scene. "We took out dead bodies", he said, adding that he also helped bring out those injured from the medical hostel and nearby buildings that the plane smashed into. "Everywhere just bodies, parts, body parts. The bodies were totally burnt. It was like coal." 'About to die' The lone survivor aboard the London-bound passenger plane said Friday how 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 on Friday, speaking in Hindi to national broadcaster DD News. Ramesh, 40, is from the British city of 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," he said. "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," he said. "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 Ramesh soon after, dressed in a bloodied t-shirt and limping, but walking 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." 'Didn't get a chance' Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited the crash site on Friday morning, called it a "scene of devastation". He was seen peering up at a fire-blackened multi-storey building with the plane's wheels and tail embedded in a wall. Authorities have set up DNA testing for relatives of passengers and those killed on the ground to identify the scorched bodies and body parts. It may be weeks before a final death toll is confirmed. Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking after visiting the crash site on Thursday, said the plane was carrying 125,000 litres of fuel. The "temperature was so high that one didn't get a chance", he said. Air India 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. Sona Prakash, who was close to the residential blocks of the medical accommodation, described how the "hostel was destroyed", adding that "so many doctors were injured, so many died". Another witness, 35-year-old labourer Patani, who uses only one name, said those around him thought a bomb had gone off before they realised it was a plane crash. "There was black smoke everywhere, plumes of smoke", added Vinod Bhai, another labourer. "The sky was only black, that's how much smoke was there."
Euronews
a day ago
- Euronews
Video. Indian PM Narendra Modi visits site of Air India crash in Ahmedabad
The London-bound 787 Dreamliner crashed into a medical school minutes after departure, killing at least 260 people, including nearly all 242 on board. One passenger miraculously survived. Flames tore through the building, claiming more lives on the ground. The exact number of casualties is still unknown. Modi, accompanied by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, met emergency teams and pledged full support to the victims' families. Rescue operations remain underway, as crews sift through debris. 'It's a tragedy we won't forget,' said one rescuer.
LeMonde
2 days ago
- LeMonde
London-bound Air India plane crashes with 242 on board
A London-bound passenger plane crashed on Thursday, June 12, in India's western city of Ahmedabad with 242 on board, aviation officials said in what the airline called a "tragic accident." Air India's flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which was bound for London Gatwick crashed shortly after takeoff, officials said. India's aviation minister said he was "shocked and devastated" by the crash in Ahmedabad, where an AFP journalist saw thick plumes of black smoke over the airport. India's civil aviation authority said "there were 242 people on board" including two pilots and 10 cabin crew. The Air India plane issued a mayday call and "crashed immediately after takeoff," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said. The civil aviation authority said the plane crashed outside the airport perimeter. Ahmedabad, the main city of India's Gujarat state, is home of around eight million people and the busy airport is located surrounded by densely packed residential areas. Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu directed "all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action." "Rescue teams have been mobilized, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site," he added. "My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families." Air India confirmed the crash. "With profound sorrow I confirm that Air India Flight 171 operating Ahmedabad [to] London Gatwick was involved in a tragic accident today," Air India chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said. "Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event," said the airline chairman. An emergency center has been activated and a support team set up for families seeking information, he added. India has suffered a series of fatal air crashes, including a 1996 disaster when two jets collided mid-air over New Delhi, killing nearly 350 people. In 2010, an Air India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in southwest India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew on board. Decades earlier, an Air India Boeing 747 flying from Montreal to London in June 1985 crashed into the sea off Ireland with 329 people on board and leaving no survivors. An Indian commission determined that militant Sikhs had planted a bomb in baggage being carried by the plane.
