News18: At least 133 people are reported to have died after Air India flight AI-171 crashed in Ahmedabad shortly after take-off. An eyewitness of the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad said that the aircraft crashed into the building of the BJ Medical College in Meghani Nagar where resident doctors were staying.
Speaking to CNN-News18, Harshit, a medical student, said he was having lunch at the time when the plane crashed into the building next to the one he was in. Harshit’s friend, who was at the crash site, is currently admitted to the hospital. Harshit mentioned that the building where the plane crashed housed resident doctors.
Another man, claiming to be an eyewitness, told news agency ANI, “…I have my office 200 metres from here. As soon as I stepped out of the office, I heard a very loud noise, and smoke filled the area suddenly. A commotion broke out here and then we saw that this accident had occurred. When I reached the spot, I saw debris scattered here, there was a fire and smoke was billowing here. Nothing was visible…We then came to know that the wings of the aircraft fell here and that an aircraft crashed…We don’t know about the casualties but there is a building here where doctors reside."
Meanwhile, Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA) also shared visuals showing parts of the crashed Air India flight stuck in the hostel mess building of the college. Dr Akshay Dongardhive of FAIMA said around 20-30 students could have been injured on the ground due to the crash.
The flight which was flying from Ahmedabad to London had 242 people on board. The aircraft was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which is a mid-size, twin-engine, wide-body jet airliner. The plane was carrying at least 169 Indians, 53 British, 7 Portuguese, and 1 Canadian. It is being reported that former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was also on board the ill-fated flight.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Home Minister Amit Shah and Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu about the crash. The PM asked the two ministers to go to Ahmedabad and ensure all possible assistance is extended to those affected.
Shah also spoke to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel following the crash.
Modi's Home State
Britain is working with Indian authorities to urgently establish the facts around the crash and to provide support to those involved, the country's foreign office said in a statement posted on its website.
The Indian aviation minister's office said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed it to ensure all support was extended to the rescue efforts immediately.
All relevant agencies were on high alert and coordinated efforts were underway, the aviation minister's office added.
Ahmedabad is the main city in Modi's home state of Gujarat.
Ahmedabad airport said it had suspended all flight operations with immediate effect. The airport is operated by India's Adani Group conglomerate.
"We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragedy of Air India Flight 171," Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of the group, posted on X.
"Our hearts go out to the families who have suffered an unimaginable loss. We are working closely with all authorities and extending full support to the families on the ground," he said.
The last fatal plane crash in India was in 2020 and involved Air India Express, the airline's low-cost arm.
The airline's Boeing-737 overshot a "table-top" runway at Kozhikode International Airport in southern India. The plane skidded off the runway, plunging into a valley and crashing nose-first into the ground.
Twenty-one people were killed in that crash.
The formerly state-owned Air India was taken over by Indian conglomerate Tata Group in 2022, and merged with Vistara - a joint venture between the group and Singapore Airlines – in 2024.
Tata said an emergency centre had been activated and a support team set up for families seeking information.
