More than 240 people have died after an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a college hostel in Ahmedabad, India, shortly after takeoff on Thursday.
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The tragic flight, AI171, was headed to London Gatwick Airport but went down just minutes into the journey, making it the deadliest aviation disaster in the past ten years.
According to Reuters, the plane carried 242 people, including 217 adults, 11 children, and 2 infants. The aircraft slammed into the hostel of a medical college during lunchtime, instantly killing many students and residents inside the building.
One man miraculously survived. Ramesh Viswashkumar, seated in 11A near an emergency exit, described hearing a “loud noise” moments after takeoff before everything went dark. “When I woke up, bodies were all around me.
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I ran until someone grabbed me and rushed me to a hospital,” he told the Hindustan Times. His brother, who was also on the flight, remains missing.
Authorities are still confirming the death toll. Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior police officer, revised the number down from 294 to “over 240” due to earlier double-counted body parts. Ahmedabad Police Chief G.S. Malik confirmed that victims included passengers and individuals on the ground, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
State health secretary Dhananjay Dwivedi said DNA samples are being collected to identify the deceased. Witnesses described fuselage debris strewn across the burning structure. The plane’s tail was visibly stuck atop the hostel building.
The crash marks the first-ever disaster involving a Dreamliner, which began commercial service in 2011. The aircraft involved was delivered to Air India in 2014 and last flew in 2013, per Flightradar24 data.
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The tragedy has triggered investigations into what caused the crash. Aviation safety experts believe answers may lie in black box data, which officials are still searching for amid the wreckage.
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