A passenger plane en route to London has crashed on departure at an airport in India’s western city of Ahmedabad.
According to Flightradar24 in a post on Thursday, the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
Officials of the airline said there were 242 passengers and crew members on board the Air India flight, which include Indian, British, Portuguese and Canadian nationals.
The crew gave a Mayday call to air traffic control shortly after takeoff, according to India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Meanwhile, India’s Home Minister, Amit Shah said he is “pained beyond words by the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad.”
In a post on X, he said “disaster response forces have been quickly rushed to the crash site,” and that he had spoken with the Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel, Home Minister Shri Harsh Sanghavi, and Commissioner of Police Ahmedabad “to assess the situation.”
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also posted on X, writing: “Deeply shocked to learn about the flight crash in Ahmedabad. Our prayers are with the passengers and their families.”
