Under a scorching midday sun in Ahmedabad, tragedy struck with terrifying force on Thursday as a London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plunged into a residential enclave, transforming an ordinary neighborhood into a scene of horror. Of the 242 passengers and crew aboard, only one has been confirmed alive—a solitary flicker of hope amid overwhelming loss.
The aircraft tore through several apartment buildings, many reportedly occupied by medical professionals and their families. What had been a quiet, working-class quarter became a disaster zone in seconds, its skyline ripped apart by twisted fuselage and trailing smoke.
An AFP correspondent on site described a grim tableau: scorched debris littering the streets, bodies being carefully retrieved, and the tail of the jet grotesquely suspended from the edge of a shattered high-rise—an image that now defines one of the deadliest aviation disasters in recent Indian history.
“The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after Air India’s flight 171 crashed following takeoff.
The bodies of passengers and victims on the ground were among 204 recovered so far, city police commissioner GS Malik said, while medics were treating dozens who were injured in the city.
While everyone aboard the flight was initially feared killed, state health official Dhananjay Dwivedi told AFP “one survivor is confirmed” and had been hospitalised.
The AFP journalist saw a building ablaze after the crash, with thick black smoke billowing into the air, and a section of the plane on the ground.
“One half of the plane crashed into the residential building where doctors lived with their families,” said Krishna, a doctor who did not give his full name.
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“The nose and front wheel landed on the canteen building where students were having lunch,” he said.
Krishna said he saw “about 15 to 20 burnt bodies”, while he and his colleagues rescued around 15 students.
India’s civil aviation authority said there were 242 people aboard, including two pilots and 10 cabin crew.
Air India confirmed the nationalities of those aboard the ill-fated flight to London’s Gatwick Airport: 169 Indian nationals, 53 British passengers, seven Portuguese citizens, and one Canadian. The international mix underscores the global magnitude of the tragedy that unfolded in Ahmedabad, India, on Thursday.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the images emerging from the crash site “devastating,” while King Charles III expressed he was “desperately shocked” by the loss of life.
According to India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the aircraft issued a mayday call and went down “immediately after takeoff,” slamming into a residential district bordering the heavily trafficked airport. Ahmedabad, a teeming metropolis of roughly eight million, is densely built, with neighborhoods pressed up against transport hubs.
Local resident Poonam Patni recounted the chaos with chilling clarity: “When we got there, bodies were scattered, and the fire brigade was battling massive flames,” she told AFP.
The scale of the catastrophe has stunned both the nation and the international community, raising urgent questions about safety, infrastructure, and the fragility of life in fast-growing urban corridors.