World leaders lament plane crash in India: ‘From the heart’

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.

Ambulances were sent to the help of victims and streets near the airport were blocked. To the BBC, the mother of a doctor who was in the affected stay said that her son jumped from the second floor to save himself. Local Darshna Vaghela policy also said it helped doctors get out of their accommodation after the accident.

Request for help was made before the accident. According to the BBC, a “Mayday” call, which acts as an emergency code, was issued to the airport control tower shortly after takeoff, but no other communication was made by the aircraft after that.