By Mark Ogagan
An Air India passenger plane with 242 people on board has crashed shortly after taking off from an airport in India’s western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing all passengers and crew on board.
Images from the scene showed thick black smoke rising up into the sky after the plane crashed in a residential area. The nose of the aircraft was pictured resting on top of a building. Other images showed scorched trees and a fire-blackened building with responders hosing down the area.
A senior police officer told reporters that the plane had hit a doctors’ hostel.
The number of casualties was not immediately clear, but it was later confirmed that there were no survivors. The plane was bound for London’s Gatwick Airport, where it was due to land at 6.25 p.m. local time (1.25 p.m. ET).
Air India confirmed in a statement that its flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick was involved in an accident Thursday shortly after takeoff.
The flight was carrying 242 passengers and crew members. Of these, 169 were Indian nationals and 53 were British nationals. There were also seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national on board, the airline said.
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