KATHMANDU: All 242 passengers and crew members on board the Air India plane, en route to London Gatwick from Ahmedabad, are feared dead.
“It appears there are no survivors in the plane crash,” Ahmedabad Police Commissioner G S Malik told The Associated Press news agency. “Some locals may have also died. Exact figures on casualties are being ascertained.”
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a doctors’ hostel in Meghaninagar, Ahmedabad, just minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport at 1:38 pm (local time). The aircraft was carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese citizens, and one Canadian.
A video clip shared on social media shows the plane flying low over a residential area before disappearing behind buildings, followed by an explosion and a thick plume of flames and smoke.
The incident marks the first major crash involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Himal Press