At least 30 people were killed when an Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India’s western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, with the toll expected to climb, according to a Reuters report.
The plane was headed for Gatwick Airport, Air India said, while police officers said it crashed in a residential area near the airport. India’s CNN News-18 TV channels said the plane crashed on top of the dining area of state-run B.J. Medical College hostel, killing many medical students as well.
Rescue workers said that at least 30 to 35 bodies had been recovered from the site and that more people were trapped.
The passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants a source told Reuters. Of them, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian, Air India said.
Aviation tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service. The aircraft took off around 1.47 pm, slightly delayed from schedule. Officials say it crashed 9 minutes after being given clearance for take-off.
The plane lost signal seconds after take-off, reports said.
It was the first crash for the Dreamliner, which began flying commercially in 2011, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. The Air India plane flew for the first time in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014, Flightradar24 said.
“At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates,” Air India said on X. “The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals.”
