Body of a victim of Air India plane crash being carried on a stretcher outside the post-mortem room of a hospital, in Ahmedabad, Thursday, June 12. PTI
AI plane crash: 7 dead at BJ Medical College hostel; 60 injured
The London-bound Boeing 787-8 aircraft crashed into the medical college complex and burst into a ball of fire moments after take-off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport
At least seven people including five MBBS students, one PG resident doctor and the wife of a superspecialist doctor of the BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad were killed and over 60 medical students injured when an Air India plane crashed into the college complex, the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) claimed.
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The search operation at the crash site is still going on and many are feared buried in the debris, FAIMA national vice president Dr Divyansh Singh said. "Bodies that have been found were totally charred," he added.
241 dead
The London-bound Boeing 787-8 aircraft crashed into the medical college complex and burst into a ball of fire moments after take-off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, possibly killing almost everyone on board in one of the country's worst air disasters.
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There were 242 people on board, including 12 crew members. Of the 230 passengers on board, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national, Air India said earlier in the day in a statement.
Air India said 241 were killed in the air crash and there was only one survivor.
"As of now, at least five medical students, one PG resident doctor and the wife of a superspecialist doctor from the BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad have been killed and over 60 medical students have been injured," Singh said.
Search on for black box
"As per the information I have received so far, the plane after losing its balance crashed over the boys hostel building of the BJ Medical College. And as it was lunchtime, most of the students and resident doctors were there for lunch," he said.
The search was also on for the aircraft's black box – the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder – for clues to understand what happened in the last crucial moments of the doomed flight to London's Gatwick airport.
The 11-year-old aircraft could be seen from miles away, losing altitude rapidly and combusting in a fiery blaze that sent plumes of thick black smoke spiralling up in the air.
(With agency inputs)