Former Minister of India is among plane passengers who crashed after taking off

Air India’s Boeing 787-8 was on its way to Gatwick airport in London. There were 242 passengers and crew on board, according to the airline. A passenger was found alive inside the aircraft and 204 bodies have been recovered so far, local police said. Local police reported that “more than 240” people died, among aircraft passengers and people on the ground.

The aircraft was with 169 Indians, 53 British, a Canadian and seven Portuguese, clarified Air India, as well as ten crew and two pilots, whose nationalities were not informed. After the announcement about the accident, the airline updated her photo to a black image on the networks, signaling mourning. Eleven passengers are children, according to the Minister of Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol.

The accident happened during the plane’s takeoff. Images circulating on social networks showed fiery wreckage and a dense black smoke rising to the skies near the airport. According to the records, the aircraft began takeoff at 1:38 pm (4:08 am Brasília) and fell five minutes later.

Aircraft fell into buildings and hit a hostel for doctors. The point of the fall, according to the BBC, is near the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. An image released by India’s central industrial security force shows that the part of the plane’s tail was “stuck” in the building.

At least five dead were on the ground, local authorities explained. According to the dean of the medical University BJ, more than 50 students had lunch at the time the scene was hit and five students who were in the building died. “Most of them escaped, but 10 or 12 were stuck in the fire. The smoke was very dense,” the doctor told local press.