Single Passenger Survived Air India Crash, Hospital Says

alsharq Tribune- Zainab Hussin 

A single passenger survived the fiery crash of an Air India passenger plane on Thursday, according to a doctor at a local hospital. The plane went down shortly after taking off for London with around 240 people on board.

The airline has said there were no other survivors. At least one person survived the crash, news agency Press Trust of India reported. The news agency quoted Dr. Shriq M., who works in the trauma ward of the civil hospital in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad.

Part of the plane fell on top of a medical college in Ahmedabad, killing at least five medical students and injuring nearly 50, according to a medical association. It was not immediately clear why the plane crashed.

The aircraft was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, a widebody, twin-engine plane. This is the first Dreamliner crash since it went into service in 2009, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. Indian conglomerate Tata Sons took over Air India in 2022, returning the debt-saddled carrier to private ownership after decades of government control.