BBC News Mundo
At least 241 people died when a passenger plane bound for London crashed on Thursday shortly after takeoff in India.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner took off from Ahmedabad at 13:38 local time bound for Gatwick Airport.
There were 242 people on board, including passengers and crew members.
Among the passengers were 169 Indian citizens, 53 British citizens, one Canadian citizen, and seven Portuguese citizens. There were a total of 11 children on board.
Air India confirmed early Friday morning, local time, the death of 241 people out of the 242 who were on board the crashed plane.
Meanwhile, the Indian government said it will not give an official death toll until all the necessary DNA tests to identify the victims have been carried out.
A survivor
The Ahmedabad police commissioner said that at least one of the plane's passengers, a British national, survived : he is Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was traveling in seat 11A.
Indian media claim to have spoken with Vishwash in the hospital and seen his boarding pass, which includes his name and seat number.
"Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and the plane crashed. It all happened very quickly," he said in statements quoted by local media.
"When I woke up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I got up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed me and put me in an ambulance and took me to the hospital," Ramesh told the Hindustan Times.
The man is hospitalized and receiving treatment, according to police.
The BBC was able to speak to one of his relatives, Ajay Valgi, in Leicester, UK, who said that Ramesh was able to call to say that he was "okay", but that he did not know the whereabouts of his brother Ajay, who was traveling with him.
A big explosion
A video of the accident, obtained by local media, shows the aircraft flying over a residential area before crashing, causing a large explosion.
Images from the area show large crowds around the plane wreckage and firefighters extinguishing the flames.
Parts of the crashed plane can be seen sticking out of a building.
Authorities deployed heavy machinery in the hope of finding survivors, BBC correspondent Roxy Gagdekar reported from the scene.
The plane made a distress call to air traffic control after takeoff, but then did not respond.
The flight tracking website Flightradar24 says it received the last signal from the aircraft at 190 meters above the ground "just seconds after takeoff".
The accident occurred outside the airport perimeter in a residential area called Meghani Nagar, reports our correspondent in South Asia.
Damage in the area surrounding the airport
"Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event. At this time, our primary focus is on supporting all those affected and their families," said Air India Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran.
The airline said the injured were taken to the nearest hospitals.
A major blow for Boeing
"The accident is a major blow to the company, which has been struggling to overcome a number of problems, including fatal accidents, with its 737 programs," Josephs added.
"It will be another test for CEO Kelly Ortberg, who is about to celebrate his first anniversary in the role. He was hired to try to help the American aircraft manufacturer resolve a number of problems that raised questions about its future," he explains.
"We are aware of the initial reports and are working to gather more information," Boeing said in a statement.
Air India was acquired by Tata Group from the Indian government in January 2022 after accumulating billions of dollars in losses.
The airline's UK operations are based in Birmingham, and from London's Gatwick and Heathrow airports there are routes to several Indian cities such as Ahmedabad, Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore.
A recent analysis by the PA news agency revealed that it was the airline with the most flight delays from UK airports last year, with planes taking off with an average delay of more than 45 minutes.
According to PA, the airline has gained a bad reputation for delays and cancellations in recent years, partly due to a lack of funds to purchase spare parts for aircraft, which resulted in part of its fleet being grounded.
Source: BBC News Mundo
Photo: REUTERS.
