APTOPIX India Plane Crash

AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — An Air India passenger plane bound for London with more than 240 people on board crashed and exploded after takeoff on Thursday in India’s northwestern city of Ahmedabad, and there were no known survivors, officials said.

Black smoke billowed from the site where the plane crashed into a medical college hostel and burst into flames near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city of more than 5 million and the capital of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.

Firefighters doused the smoking wreckage of the plane, which would have been fully loaded with fuel shortly after takeoff, and adjacent multistory buildings with water. Many charred bodies lay on the ground and parts of the fuselage were scattered around the site. Indian army teams were assisting civil authorities to clear debris and help treat the injured.

Visuals also showed the tail cone of the aircraft with damaged stabiliser fins still attached to it lodged near the top of one of the buildings.

In a social media post, Modi called the crash “heartbreaking beyond words” and said “my thoughts are with everyone affected.”

“It appears there are no survivors in the plane crash,” city police chief GS Malik told The Associated Press. Malik said the dead could include both passengers and those on the ground.

“Exact figures on casualties are being ascertained,” he added.

Divyansh Singh, vice president of the Federation of All India Medical Association, a national body that represents resident doctors, said at least five students from the medical........

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