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Air India crash: Eyewitnesses describe accident site | Air India crash: Eyewitnesses describe accident site |
(32 minutes later) | |
BBC correspondent Roxy Gagdekar reports from scene of Air India crash | BBC correspondent Roxy Gagdekar reports from scene of Air India crash |
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 burnt 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. | 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. | Ambulances are all over the area. Roads are blocked. |
On the edges, people whose relatives were travelling to London have started to gather. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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." | "Within an hour, I got the news that the plane had crashed. So I came here." |