Ahmedabad plane crash: 53 British, 7 Portuguese among foreign nationals on board Air India aircraft

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, operating the Ahmedabad-London Gatwick service, was carrying 242 people, including two pilots and 10 cabin crew members, when it went down in a residential area near the airport at around 1:39 pm, minutes after departure.

According to Air India, the passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national.

The airline said injured passengers are being transported to nearby hospitals.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer termed the scenes emerging from the plane crash as "devastating."

"I am being kept updated as the situation develops, and my thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time," he posted on X.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the aircraft issued a "Mayday" call seconds after takeoff but lost all contact soon after. Flight tracking service Flightradar24 said it received the last signal at 13:38:51 IST.

Emergency response teams, including 80 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, were dispatched from Gandhinagar to assist in rescue efforts. A green corridor has been established to facilitate swift medical evacuation of the injured.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu and directed him to ensure all necessary support is provided to those affected. Naidu is en route to Ahmedabad to oversee rescue and relief operations, officials said.