Newsroom
Tragedy struck India early Wednesday when an Air India flight bound for London Gatwick crashed just minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport, with 242 people on board.
The aircraft went down in a densely populated residential area of Meghani Nagar, triggering a massive fire and chaos on the ground. Eyewitnesses described a loud explosion followed by a sharp drop in altitude before the plane slammed into a building and burst into flames.
Thick black smoke could be seen billowing from the crash site as emergency crews rushed to contain the blaze. Local firefighters and police units are still working at the scene.
“It is not yet clear what type of aircraft it was,” said Ahmedabad Police Chief Rakesh Asthana. Fire department officer Jayesh Khandia confirmed that the plane struck a structure before catching fire.
Air India has only said that flight AI171 was “involved in an incident” and that more information is being gathered.
The flight was scheduled to land at London Gatwick at 6:25 p.m. local time. It is not yet known how many passengers were British or part of the South Asian diaspora, which includes many expats living in the UK and Cyprus.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched an investigation into the cause of the crash. Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said he has spoken to Gujarat’s chief minister, the state’s home minister, and senior police officials, pledging full support from the central government.
There has been no official word yet on casualties, but the scale of the wreckage and the fire suggest that survivors, if any, may be few.
This is a developing story. Updates will follow as more information becomes available.
