‘Appears to be no survivors,’ reports US news agency citing Ahmedabad CP

As Thursday evening turned tragic in Ahmedabad, over 242 people are feared dead in the Air India London-bound flight crash, according to the American news agency Associated Press.

The agency quoted Commissioner of Police G S Malik as saying, "It appears there are no survivors in the plane crash".

As per the news agency reports, Malik said that some locals would have also died. 

The former Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was also onboard the flight and was reported to be critically injured.

In a statement, Boeing Airplanes wrote, “We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them. Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected.”

An Air India-171 Ahmedabad-London flight crashed at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad during take-off on Thursday evening. 

According to preliminary information, within just two minutes of take-off, the rear portion of the aircraft reportedly collided with a tree, causing it to veer off course and crash into a nearby airport structure. The impact was severe, resulting in injuries to several passengers and crew members. Emergency response teams were immediately deployed to the scene.

As per ATC, “Aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from runway 23. It issued a MAYDAY Call to ATC, but thereafter, no response was received from the aircraft to the calls made by ATC. Aircraft Immediately after departure from Runway 23, fell on ground outside the airport perimeter. Heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident site,” the statement added.