More than 200 people have been confirmed dead after an Air India flight crashed within minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon. The London-bound aircraft had been carrying more than 80-90 tonnes of highly inflammable aviation fuel as it crashed into a residential building close to the airport. Visuals shared online showed a massive orange fireball that raged for hours over the tightly packed terraces of the city. Rescue and relief efforts remain underway and only one passenger has been recovered alive till now.

According to official records, there had been 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft — including 169 Indians, 53 British nationals, one Canadian and seven Portuguese citizens. The lengthy list of casualties included at least ten people from various parts of Rajasthan. Among the passengers on the doomed flight was newly married Khushboo Rajpurohit, heading to London to join her husband.

The Balotara resident had married London-based student Manfool Singh in January this year before beginning the visa process. She was on her way to meet her husband for the first time since the wedding when the crash occurred. According to an Indian Express report, the 20-something woman had reached the city with her father and clicked a final photo together before entering Ahmedabad airport. The duo had travelled down to Ahmedabad from Araba village in the Balotara district of Rajasthan for the flight.

“The 12-year-old Boeing 787-8 aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew. The aircraft crashed shortly after take-off. We regret to inform that, of the 242 aboard, there are 241 confirmed fatalities. The sole survivor is being treated in a hospital,” Air India posted on X.

40-year-old Ramesh Viswashkumar had been seated next to the emergency exit and managed to jump out while sustaining several injuries. His brother Ajay had been seated in a different row of the plane and remains missing.

“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly. When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital,” he told Hindustan Times from his hospital bed.

(With inputs from agencies)