Ahmedabad Plane Crash: One Survivor Found

An Air India flight crashed near the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday. Ahmedabad police commissioner GS Malik reportedly confirmed that one passenger has survived out of 242 onboard the crashed London-bound Air India aircraft. Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, a passenger in seat 11A, informed reporters that he exited the plane through the emergency exit. Meanwhile, 169 Indians, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian national were on board. Reports also indicate that former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani was among them.

The aircraft crashed into accommodation used by doctors. Thick plumes of smoke marked the crash site, as seen in visuals circulating on social media, after the flight crashed minutes following its takeoff. "The building on which it has crashed is a doctors' hostel... we have cleared almost 70% to 80% of the area and will clear the rest soon," a senior police officer told reporters, as quoted by Reuters. Images and footage from the site depicted significant aircraft wreckage scattered across the area surrounding the impacted building. The aircraft was reportedly under the command of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal with First Officer Clive Kundar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the incident as "heartbreaking beyond words". Meanwhile, Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said that Congress workers must do everything they can to help on the ground.