Air India says a London-bound flight crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport Thursday with 242 passengers and crew onboard.
The airline said flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8, crashed into a residential area near the airport in Ahmedabad, a northwestern city with a population of more than 5 million, five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. local time.
The plane was bound for London Gatwick Airport and was carrying 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian, Air India said.
Visuals on local television channels showed smoke billowing from the crash site.
Here's the latest:
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India's foreign minister says ‘deeply shocked’ by the crash
India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, said he was “deeply shocked to learn about the flight crash in Ahmedabad" in a post on X. “Our prayers are with the passengers and their families,” he said.
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Passengers included Indian, British, Portuguese and Canadian nationals
Air India in a statement said there were 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 British, one Canadian and seven Portuguese. The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals.
