53 Britons among 260 killed as Indian plane crashes in Ahmedabad

Air India says passengers on crashed plane included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British, seven Portuguese, one Canadian

Published: 02:13 PM, 12 Jun, 2025
Featured News, South Asia
53 Britons among 260 killed as Indian plane crashes in Ahmedabad
Caption: Video grab
AFP

A London-bound passenger plane crashed in the Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, killing 242 people on board and 18 on the ground. The jet smashed into buildings housing doctors and their families.

An AFP journalist saw people recovering bodies and firefighters trying to douse the smouldering wreckage after the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner hit buildings during lunchtime.

"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 after takeoff.

City police commissioner GS Malik told AFP there "appears to be no survivor in the crash".

Air India said passengers on crashed plane included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British, seven Portuguese, one Canadian.

India's aviation minister said he was "shocked and devastated" by the crash in Ahmedabad, where an AFP journalist saw thick plumes of black smoke over the airport.

India's civil aviation authority said "there were 242 persons on board" including two pilots and 10 cabin crew.

Rescue teams supported by the military had "found 204 bodies", he said, with people aboard the plane and those on the ground among the dead.

The AFP journalist saw a section of the plane lying on the ground and a building ablaze, with thick black smoke billowing into the air.

"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.

"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 said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian on board the flight bound for London Gatwick.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the scenes from the crash were "devastating", while the country's King Charles III said he was "desperately shocked".

Aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu directed "all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action."

"Rescue teams have been mobilised, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site," he added.

"My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families."

The Air India plane issued a mayday call and "crashed immediately after takeoff", the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.

The civil aviation authority said the plane crashed outside the airport perimeter.

Ahmedabad, the main city of India's Gujarat state, is home of around eight million people, and the busy airport is located surrounded by densely packed residential areas.

Air India confirmed the crash. "With profound sorrow I confirm that Air India Flight 171 operating Ahmedabad (to) London Gatwick was involved in a tragic accident today," Air India chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said.

"Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event," said the airline chairman.

An emergency centre has been activated and a support team set up for families seeking information, he added.

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India has suffered a series of fatal air crashes, including a 1996 disaster when two jets collided mid-air over New Delhi, killing nearly 350 people.

In 2010 an Air India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in southwest India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew on board.

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Decades earlier, an Air India Boeing 747 flying from Montreal to London in June 1985 crashed into the sea off Ireland with 329 people on board and leaving no survivors.

An Indian commission determined that militant Sikhs had planted a bomb in baggage being carried by the plane.

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