logo
At the scene in Ahmedabad: 'Everyone is running trying to save as many lives as possible'

At the scene in Ahmedabad: 'Everyone is running trying to save as many lives as possible'

Saudi Gazette12-06-2025
AHMEDABAD — The scene in Ahmedabad after the Air India passenger plane crashed shortly after take off is shocking.
A few hours after the accident, smoke can still be seen rising from the ruins of buildings at the crash site. Pictures show a burned bed frame lying in the street.
Everyone is running, trying to save as many lives as possible when the BBC arrives at the scene.
Firefighters can be seen picking their way across the burnt ground, attempting to put out the still smouldering wreckage with their hoses.
Ambulances are all over the area. Roads are blocked.
On the edges, people whose relatives were travelling to London have started to gather.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner came down shortly after take off on Thursday afternoon local time, bound for London Gatwick. There were 242 people on board - mainly Indian nationals, but many British, and some Portuguese and a Canadian as well.
People in the western Indian city heard a loud sound first, then watched black smoke billowing into the sky.
"I was at home when we heard a massive sound," one Ahmedabad resident told Indian news agency PTI.
"When we went out to see what had happened, there was a layer of thick smoke in the air. When we came here, dead bodies and debris from the crashed aircraft were scattered all over."
The plane came down on a doctors' hostel near the Civil Hospital, a short distance from the airport.
It is unclear how many people were inside. According to one eyewitness, people were seen jumping from as high as the third flood "to save themselves".
"The plane was in flames," the unnamed resident told AFP news agency.
"We helped people get out of the building and sent the injured to the hospital."
Ramila told Indian news agency ANI that her son, who had just returned to the hostel for lunch, was among those who jumped.
He suffered injuries, but is safe, she added.
Outside, people started to gather. The fire service was joined by volunteers from the local community.
Photos show people being carried off on stretchers, and placed into ambulances.
But also in the crowds were people whose family members were on board the flight.
Poonam Patel, who is at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, told ANI that his sister-in-law was on the flight to London.
"Within an hour, I got the news that the plane had crashed. So I came here." — BBC
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Father jumps off Disney cruise ship to save daughter who fell overboard
Father jumps off Disney cruise ship to save daughter who fell overboard

Saudi Gazette

time6 days ago

  • Saudi Gazette

Father jumps off Disney cruise ship to save daughter who fell overboard

MIAMI — A father jumped into the ocean to save his daughter after she fell from the fourth deck of a Disney cruise ship travelling from the Bahamas to the US on Sunday afternoon, witnesses say. Videos showed passengers cheering as the two were pulled onto a rescue boat after apparently treading water for 10 minutes. The girl appeared to fall when her father took her picture against a railing, witnesses said. A man overboard alert was broadcast on the ship, and crew rushed to recover them. "The ship was moving quickly, so quickly, it's crazy how quickly the people became tiny dots in the sea, and then you lost sight of them," passenger Laura Amador said. "The captain slowed the ship and turned it around, and then they deployed a tender ship with people on it to go get them, and we saw them rescue the dad and daughter," she told CBS News, the BBC's US partner. The 4,000-person capacity Disney Dream, was returning to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after sailing for four days around the confirmed in a statement that two passengers were rescued, but offered few details about what occurred."The Crew aboard the Disney Dream swiftly rescued two guests from the water," a Disney Cruise Line spokesperson said. "We commend our Crew Members for their exceptional skills and prompt actions, which ensured the safe return of both guests to the ship within image of the 14-deck Disney Dream cruise ship with an annotation to indicate the location of the fourth deck, which is just below the lifeboats. The fourth deck includes a running track which has a long, open-air section with railings on both sides of the boat."We watched it, you could see two little was crazy, it was horrific," passenger Gar Frantz told NBC News, describing how he witnessed the two enter the ocean and nearly disappear into the incident took place on the last day of the cruise, and the ship returned to port in Florida as it is rare for passengers to fall from cruise ships, rescues are not often successful when they to a Cruise Lines International Association report from 2019, 25 people fell overboard that year from cruise ships and only nine were saved from the water. — BBC

Air India plane crash probe looking at all angles: minister
Air India plane crash probe looking at all angles: minister

Arab News

time29-06-2025

  • Arab News

Air India plane crash probe looking at all angles: minister

NEW DELHI: An Indian aviation minister on Sunday said investigators were probing 'all angles' behind an Air India crash when asked by media about possible but one of the 242 people on board the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner were killed when it crashed in the western city of Ahmedabad on June have identified 19 others who died on the ground, but a police source told AFP after the crash that the toll was minister of state for civil aviation, Murlidhar Mohol, said the investigation was looking at 'all angles' when asked specifically about possible 'sabotage,' in an interview with Indian news channel NDTV.'It has never happened before that both engines have shut off together,' Mohol said earlier in the interview, in reference to theories by some experts of possible dual-engine minister added that until the investigation report is published, it would be premature to comment on the team appointed to investigate the crash started extracting data from the plane's cockpit voice and flight data recorders this week, in an attempt to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the India has said that the plane was 'well-maintained' and that the pilots were accomplished flyers.

India recovers data from crashed Air India flight recorders
India recovers data from crashed Air India flight recorders

Saudi Gazette

time27-06-2025

  • Saudi Gazette

India recovers data from crashed Air India flight recorders

MUMBAI — Investigators have recovered flight recorder data from the Air India crash earlier this month, the civil aviation ministry has confirmed, marking a key step in the probe. At least 270 people were killed when the London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed less than a minute after taking off on 12 June from Ahmedabad airport in western India. Investigators had earlier recovered both sets of Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFRs) - the "black boxes" - from the Boeing 787 crash site on 13 and 16 June - one from a rooftop, the other from the debris. It could be several weeks before the federal government is able to release information gathered from the recorders. The particular aircraft model carries the two recorder sets to aid in thorough analysis. These combined units record flight data and cockpit audio. Data recorders track with high precision the position of gear and flap levers, thrust settings, engine performance, fuel flow and even fire handle activation. The data can be used to reconstruct the flight's final moments and determine the cause of the incident. The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) captures pilot radio calls, individual mic audio, and ambient cockpit sounds via an area microphone. The aviation ministry said data from the recorder was accessed on Wednesday by a team led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), with the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). "The analysis of CVR and FDR [flight data recorder] data is underway. These efforts aim to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the accident and identify contributing factors to enhance aviation safety and prevent future occurrences," the ministry said in a statement. Meanwhile, US National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy told Reuters news agency that she hopes the Indian government will be able to share details from the investigation into the crash in short order. "For aviation safety and for public safety and public awareness we hope that they will make their findings public swiftly," Homendy said on the sidelines of an aviation event. She said the NTSB team has been working diligently to provide assistance to India and "we have had excellent cooperation from the Indian government and the AAIB." India's decision to download and investigate data from the flight recorders comes nearly two weeks after the crash and has raised questions among aviation experts, some of whom described the delay as unusual. Air India Flight 171 was airborne for less than 40 seconds before it crashed into a crowded Ahmedabad neighbourhood, killing all but one of the 242 passengers on board, in one of India's most puzzling air disasters in recent memory. The London-bound Boeing 787, piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and co-pilot Clive Kundar, took off at 13:39 local time, but issued a mayday call moments later - its final transmission. — BBC

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store