All eyes are on the aftermath of the plane crash in the Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, in which at least 241 people have died. This is what we know about the crash so far.
Around 10:00 AM (Dutch time), an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed in Ahmedabad, a city in western India. There were 230 passengers and 12 crew members on board. At least 169 Indians, 53 Britons, 7 Portuguese citizens, and one person from Canada were among them. The nationality of the crew has not yet been announced.
Flight AI171 was en route to London Gatwick Airport. Things went wrong soon after takeoff. The pilot reportedly made a distress call to air traffic control. After that, the crew did not respond. Within a minute of departure, the aircraft’s signal was lost.
Initially, Indian police reported that no one had survived the crash, but it later turned out that one of the passengers was still alive. The Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh told his story from a hospital bed to the Indian newspaper Hindustan Times.
A survivor was also found in the building where the plane crashed. The building served as a residence for doctors.
The other 241 occupants of the aircraft did not survive the disaster, Air India confirms on X. The passengers were said to have been 217 adults, 11 children, and 2 babies, according to a source at the Reuters news agency. The local authorities have not confirmed this information. The ages of the occupants have not been released.
Indian police reported a total of 290 deaths, but later retracted that statement. Some bodies were reportedly counted twice. Therefore, the authorities are now talking about “more than 240 deaths.” However, local police report that approximately 265 bodies have been taken to the hospital.
The official death toll from the plane crash will be announced once the DNA testing is completed, according to the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs.
At 9:00 PM, the Indian Ministry of Aviation reported that the rescue operations at the crash site had been completed. Images show rescue workers and emergency responders doing their work among the wreckage and belongings of the victims.
One of the plane’s black boxes has reportedly been found, according to the Hindustan Times. The black box records all conversations in the cockpit and registers data, such as the altitude, speed, and direction of the aircraft. It may therefore contain important information about the cause of the crash.
The American agency NTSB is traveling to India to help with the investigation into the crash. That council investigates accidents within the US or in other countries if an American means of transport is involved in a disaster.
The CEO of Air India promises to pay the equivalent of 100,000 euros per victim to the relatives. The medical costs of all the injured would also be paid.
People across India are gathering to remember the victims of the plane crash. They are lighting candles and praying together.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls the crash a tragedy. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks of terrible images. “My thoughts are with the passengers and their family members at this very difficult time,” he says in a statement.