Toll keeps rising

At least 290 feared dead as locals tell of jet crash inferno

- BY NICK SOMMERLAD

THE doomed jet's tail lies wedged in a medical college as the toll of the Indian air disaster kept rising last night.

Shocking images revealed the aftermath of the crash and fireball that claimed at least 290 lives.

Witnesses told of charred bodies on the ground after people leapt from the upper floors of the college that bore the brunt of the impact of Air India Flight 171.

Locals rushed to help hunt for survivors from the inferno. It had threatened to engulf the residential area just one mile from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.

The horror unfolded shortly after 1.30pm local time in western India.

Moments after take-off, the Boeing 787-8 was spotted losing height and disappearing from view before a huge fireball erupted.

The death toll suggests 50 people or more may have died on the ground with one survivor, a Brit, from the 242 aboard the plane.

Students gathered for lunch at the upstairs mess hall of B.J. Medical College when the jet smashed on to the roof of the canteen.