At least 290 people are dead after a passenger plane crashed into a residential area shortly after taking off from the Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Among those killed were passengers on the flight, local residents, and people who were inside the BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel when the plane crashed into it, a senior doctor at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital told CNN.
The Air India flight was bound for London. There were 242 passengers and crew members aboard.
The airline confirmed there had been a single survivor among those on board. The Hindustan Times named the survivor as a British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, and said he was receiving treatment.
The aircraft’s signal was lost less than a minute after takeoff, at an altitude of 625 feet, according to FlightRadar24 data. The plane then started to descend with a vertical speed of -475 feet per minute, the data showed.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the plane crash had “stunned and saddened” the country. He described the incident as “heartbreaking beyond words,” adding that he was in touch with the authorities involved in the disaster.
