In addition to the 241 passengers and crew members on the Air India flight who died, at least 24 people, including four medical students, died on the ground when the plane crashed into a dormitory building of B. J. Medical College in the Meghaninagar area of Ahmedabad on the afternoon of June 12 (local time).
According to the Principal of B. J. Medical College, Dr. Minakshi Parikh, besides 4 medical students (2 first-year students, 2 second-year students), the wife of a doctor was also among the injured.
Ms. Parikh said that there are still 2 other students missing. In addition, 20 others were injured, of which 5 students are in critical condition.
Dr Parikh added that the school had established a response team, calling each student after the tragedy occurred because the bodies were almost unidentified. That is how we grasp the casualty situation" - Ms. Parikh said.
The identification of the body was also supported by forensic scientists and the federal government.
The plane in distress was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, registration number AI171, of Air India, en route from Ahmedabad to Gatwick Airport ( London, UK).
The flight took off at 1:38 p.m. from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport but encountered a technical problem at a very low altitude, only about 190m, did not achieve the necessary lifting force and crashed just a few minutes after leaving the ground.
The death toll is over 240, down from the previous 294 because it included paralyzed body parts. However, it is not yet clear how many of the dead were passengers on the plane or people on the ground.
Meanwhile, the Indian press reported that 241/242 passengers and crew members of the crashed plane were killed, with only 1 survivor. This person is Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40 years old, a British citizen of Indian origin, on his way back to London after a visit to his hometown.
On June 13, Indian authorities said they had found one of the two black boxes of an Air India plane.
Among the two black boxes, the black box on the rear of the plane was positioned and securely protected. The Civil Aviation Authority will collect equipment to analyze recordings. The second black box, in the front of the plane, has not yet been found.
The Government of India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Department has opened an official investigation into the plane crash.
