Harrowing footage has revealed the moment a passenger plane travelling from India to London burst into a fireball as it crashed to the ground.
Air India Flight 171, which had 242 people on board, had just left Ahmedabad airport and was destined for Gatwick Airport when air traffic control lost contact less than a minute after takeoff.
Officials said the plane was in the air for around five minutes before it crashed into a doctor’s hostel in the Meghani Nagar area of the city, just beyond the runway.
Footage of the incident circulating online shows the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft drifting over a residential area before disappearing out of shot.
Seconds later, a huge fireball erupts before large plumes of black smoke tower into the sky.
Further footage has emerged showing the flight from the moment it takes off until it comes down with a huge explosion following.
Images of the aftermath of the crash showed parts of the plane embedded into a residential building as firefighters continued to tackle the smoke.
The tail of the plane could be seen jutting out of a building and debris from the flight was spread across the scene.
Indian police have said that there appear to be no survivors following the crash, and officials have confirmed that there have been at least 105 casualties so far.
Local media outlets reported the plane crashed on top of a canteen at a medical college.
It was not immediately clear what caused the plane to crash but experts have speculated a bird strike or a mechanical fault.
The plane was piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who had 8,200 hours of flying experience, and co-pilot Clive Kundar, who had 1,100 hours of flying experience. There were also 10 crew members onboard.
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Air India chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran described the incident as a “tragic accident” and a “devastating event”, and said emergency response teams are at the site.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has stood up a crisis team in India and the UK, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.
The Reuters news agency reported 217 adults and 11 children were on board the flight.
Gatwick said a reception centre was being set up for relatives of passengers on board the Air India flight.
