- An Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad damaged four buildings at BJ Medical College.
- The crash resulted in 274 fatalities, with one survivor currently receiving medical treatment.
- Investigators are examining potential causes, including engine failure and bird strikes.
Walls and installations were charred, beds lay without mattresses and a lone hand towel remained hanging by the mirror inside a room in one of the buildings within the BJ Medical College compound in Ahmedabad that were damaged when an Air India plane crashed earlier this week.
Visuals from inside one of the rooms of the four buildings damaged by the crash showed bare door and window frames bent out of shape by intense flames that erupted after the plane with 1.5 lakh litres of highly-inflammable aviation fuel crashed into the compound, killing 274 people so far.
The institution's dean Minakshi Parikh told PTI that four buildings - Atulyam 1, 2, 3 and 4 - which were damaged in the crash are being vacated, and occupants will be given alternative accommodations. This will allow Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AIIB) to conduct a probe.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner (AI 171) flight with 242 passengers and crew members on board crashed into a medical hostel and its canteen complex in Meghaninagar moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday afternoon. A lone survivor from the plane is currently undergoing treatment.
So far, the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital has identified nine people who died in the crash based on DNA samples and handed over one body. Heart-breaking visuals showed relatives, including an eight-month-old in his uncle's lap, lined up to give DNA samples to identify victims of the tragedy.
As investigators looked into all possible causes for the crash, including loss of thrust in both engines of the 11-year-old aircraft, multiple bird strikes, or a potential flap issue, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu told reporters in Delhi that decoding of the Black box is going to give "in-depth insight" into what happened moments before the tragedy. The black box was recovered from the "rooftop" of the hostel building at the crash site on Friday.
Mr Naidu said aviation regulator DGCA has ordered "extended surveillance" for the Tata-owned airline's Boeing 787 series planes. In a post on X, Air India said it has done one-time safety checks on nine of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners and is on track to complete the checks on the remaining 24 such planes as directed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The carrier now has 26 legacy Boeing 787-8s and seven Boeing 787-9s in its fleet.
