Air India Dreamliner with 242 people on board crashes, all feared dead

In one of the worst ever aviation tragedies in India, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner carrying 242 people crashed immediately after take-off from Ahmedabad airport in Gujarat State this afternoon. There were 232 passengers and 10 crew on the flight which was headed to London.

- BY S VENKAT NARAYAN

All are feared dead.

Flight No. AI 171, operating Ahmedabad-London Gatwick, had on board 169 Indians, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian and seven Portuguese nationals.

The plane bound for London lost altitude soon after take-off, crashed into residential quarters of BJ Medical College doctors in Ahmedabad's Meghaninagar area, causing severe damage to buildings in the premises, eyewitnesses said.

Five students were killed, and nearly 20 injured.

Several people living in the residential quarters located near the Ahmedabad airport were injured in the crash. "There are several five-floor buildings which serve as residential quarters.

Many people in those apartments were injured as the buildings also caught fire," an eye witness said.