Sky News interrupted for devastating Air India 'breaking news' as death toll confirmed
Sky News was interrupted for another update about the Air India 171 flight which crashed just moments after takeoff.
India plane crash: Sky News report 'no survivors' on doomed plane
Sky News was interrupted for a "breaking" announcement as an update was issued on the plane crash in India. Air India 171 from Ahmedabad crashed with 242 people on board just moments after takeoff. The plane, holding 53 Britons, was heading to London Gatwick when it plummeted to the ground, crashing into a residential area called Meghani Nagar. In a tragic update, Sky News announced that there were no survivors from the crash.
The Sky News correspondent said: "Some breaking news to bring you here, being brought to us by the Reuters agency quoting the city police commissioner who says there appear to be no survivors from the Air India airliner that crashed. 242 people on board. 230 passengers. 169 Indian nationals. 53 British. Seven Portuguese and one Canadian. Two pilots and 10 crew members."
The reporter continued: "We've heard reports from Reuters that 30 bodies were removed from one of the doctor's hostel buildings and taken to hospital in recent minutes. We've heard that at least 100 bodies have been taken to hospital."
Five medical students have also died while many others suffered injuries after the flight crashed into the hostel of the BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Footage from inside the building, which shows plates with food and glasses on the tables, suggests several students were having lunch at the time of the crash.
The pictures and videos show a part of the aircraft stuck inside the students' hostel of the college.
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Details are still being established after the tragedy unfolded seconds after take-off. Contact with the aircraft was lost at 10:08 local time when it was at an altitude of 625 feet, barely a minute post-takeoff.
According to Reuters, India's aviation regulator disclosed that the plane met with disaster shortly after taking to the skies "outside the airport perimeter".
In a statement earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: "The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating."
Air India's chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said the incident was a "tragic accident" and a "devastating event".
