The North News
Ahmedabad, June 13
At least 265 people have been confirmed dead after an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon, with only one survivor pulled from the wreckage. The ill-fated flight, AI-171, had taken off at 1:38pm local time, bound for London, but plunged just two minutes later into the BJ Medical College hostel complex, which housed more than 50 people at the time. Of the deceased, 241 were passengers and crew onboard, while five were from the hostel premises. The exact number of hostel fatalities remains unclear, though initial reports indicate that four MBBS students and the wife of a doctor were among those killed.
Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the crash, was in India to visit his family and was returning to the UK with his brother. Seated in 11A near the emergency exit, he said the accident occurred just 30 seconds after take-off.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site early Friday morning before heading to Civil Hospital, where he met briefly with survivors and medical teams. He reportedly spent around ten minutes with victims’ families.
The flight manifest included 230 passengers — 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. The remaining 12 were crew members. Among those confirmed dead is former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. The aircraft was carrying 103 men, 114 women, 11 children and two infants. Investigations are ongoing, and aviation authorities have not yet released a formal cause for the crash. Eyewitnesses and rescue officials describe the scene as catastrophic, with emergency teams still combing through debris for missing persons and identifying remains. At the time of the crash, the aircraft was carrying approximately 125,000 litres of aviation fuel.
Home Minister Amit Shah has confirmed yesteday that only one passenger survived out of 242 after a passenger aircraft crashed in Ahmedabad .He described the incident as a national tragedy and said the government responded within minutes of receiving news of the crash.
Talking to reporters, Shah said, “The entire nation is grieving this tragedy. The country stands firmly with the families of those who lost their lives in this unfortunate accident.”
DNA identification efforts are underway, with sample collection from families of the victims beginning within one hour of the incident. Shah said over 1,000 DNA tests are expected to be conducted in Gujarat alone, and samples from relatives of foreign nationals aboard the flight are also being gathered.
Shah said the Civil Aviation Department has accelerated the investigation into the cause of the crash.
