City residents thought to be among air crash dead

A NUMBER of people from Leicester are believed to have been on the plane which crashed in a fireball shortly after take-off in India yesterday, killing the vast majority of the 242 people on board.

- By STAFF REPORTER

But one man is reported to have survived and he is said to be from Leicester (see Page 3).

The MP for Leicester East said she understood that a “handful” of Leicester residents were on board the Gatwick Airport-bound flight from Ahmedabad airport, which crashed into a medical college.

Conservative MP Shivani Raja told BBC News that her community, which has a high population of British-Gujaratis, were “all really horrified and devastated waking up to such tragic news”.

“So far my understanding is that there are a handful of Leicester residents who were on board that flight but I am still awaiting for official reports on that,” said Ms Raja, who added she was “determined” to learn the cause of one of the deadliest incidents in history involving a UK flight.

Air India said on board the Boeing 787 Dreamliner were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals.

The Hindustan Times reported that a 40-year-old British man Vishwash Kumar Ramesh survived the crash, telling the newspaper: “Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.”

A video of the crash circulating online showed the aircraft flying over a residential area before disappearing behind trees, followed by a huge explosion and large plumes of black smoke.