AHMEDABAD, India — Indian officials have said that at least 204 people and dozens of residents on the ground were killed in the Air India passenger jet crash in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Authorities said one person survived the crash. India’s home minister, Amit Shah, confirmed the survivor to reporters late Thursday in Ahmedabad. The passenger, believed to be a British national identified as Viswashkumar Ramesh, was seen in widely circulated footage stumbling toward an ambulance, his shirt bloodied.
Dr. Dhaval Gameti, who treated the survivor, told the Associated Press that the individual was “disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body, but he seems to be out of danger.”
The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner en route to London Gatwick, was carrying 242 people when it crashed into a medical college compound roughly one mile southwest of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. Emergency officials said the plane likely skidded after impact, striking several buildings before erupting into flames.
By nightfall, heavy machinery was deployed to sift through the wreckage. Emergency workers moved cautiously to avoid triggering a collapse of surrounding structures, including a damaged dining hall where parts of the fuselage, including the tail section, remained lodged.
Police Commissioner G.S. Malik said 204 bodies had been recovered and at least 41 people were receiving medical treatment for injuries sustained during the crash. The injured included both passengers and local residents, officials said.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation. A video verified by The Times, captured from a rooftop half a mile south of the airport, shows the jet descending steadily over a cluster of buildings before a fiery explosion lights up the horizon.
Air India confirmed that the aircraft was carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences in a statement posted on social media. “The crash is heartbreaking beyond words,” he said. “In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it.”
