New Delhi: An Air India flight with 242 people on board crashed near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad just five minutes after takeoff. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed in the Meghaninagar locality, which lies within a 7 km radius of the airport. The residential area has a military camp adjacent to Meghaninagar.
Onlookers within a 6 km radius of the crash site said they saw thick smoke rising from the area. Kingshuk Kushari, who was getting ready for his afternoon flight to Delhi from the same airport, said his friend called him to the terrace to see the smoke. “The entire riverfront area was covered with smoke,” he said.
Meghaninagar is less than three kilometres away from Ahmedabad’s famous riverfront and is dotted with a number of hospitals.
“We saw ambulances heading from this direction toward the crash site,” said Kushari.
In videos circulating on social media and news channels, the nose of the plane is seen lodged inside one of the buildings of the BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital. The medical college has four hostels and several PG quarters that house around 60 interns.
ThePrint has learnt that four undergraduate students and one postgraduate student have died following the crash, while at least 40 medical students have been injured and are admitted in the emergency ward. The crash damaged super-speciality resident quarters, BJMC boys’ hostel mess, and surrounding areas.
The BJ Medical College and Civil Hospital, which is also the government hospital where all the injured have been taken, is about 15 minutes from the crash site, a local journalist said. Other hospitals in the area include Puja Hospital, Sonal Hospital, Shanti Van Hospital, Shubham Hospital and Trauma Centre.
With inputs from Mrinalini Dhyani.
(Edited by Prashant)