14-6-2025
The death toll of Thursday’s India Air plane crash has reached 270 as rescue workers continue to locate more bodies.
Only one passenger out of 242 and crew members survived the disaster, which the worst recorded in India’s aviation industry.
The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff Thursday, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground.
Recovery teams working until late Friday found at least 25 more bodies in the debris, officials said.
Dr. Dhaval Gameti at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad told The Associated Press the facility had received 270 bodies, adding that the lone surviving passenger was still under observation for some of his wounds.
“He is doing very well and will be ready to be discharged anytime soon,” Gameti said Saturday.
That survivor, British national Viswash Kumar Ramesh, spoke about the moment the plane “came to a standstill” in midair, and how he escaped from seat 11A and walked out of the wreckage with a burnt hand.
“Everything happened in front of my eyes. I don’t believe (know) how I survived,” Ramesh, 40, said from his hospital bed on Friday. “For some time I thought I was also going to die. But when I opened my eyes, I realized I was alive. … It was in front of my eyes that the air hostess and others (died).”
Hundreds of relatives of the crash victims have provided DNA samples at the hospital. Most bodies were charred or mutilated, making them unrecognizable.
Some relatives expressed frustration Saturday that the process was taking too long. Authorities say it normally takes up to 72 hours to complete DNA matching and they are expediting the process.
“Where are my children? Did you recover them?” asked Rafiq Abdullah, whose nephew, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were on the flight. “I will have to ask questions. Government is not answering these questions.”
Another relative persistently asked hospital staff when his relative’s body would be handed over to the family for last rites.
“Give us the body,” the relative insisted.
Alongside the formal investigation, the Indian government says it has formed a high-level, multi-disciplinary committee to examine the causes leading to the crash.