Rescuers on Saturday recovered one more body from the wreckage of Air India AI-171 aircraft’s tail section. The London-bound flight crashed 33 seconds after it took off from Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon.
Officials confirmed the body was likely lodged in the tail of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which remained embedded in the rooftop of a doctors’ hostel near a Medical College in the Meghani Nagar area.
The doomed flight rammed into a residential area leading to extensive destruction, killing dozens on the ground and bringing the overall death toll to at least 260.
The ill-fated Air India flight was carrying 242 people, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian, along with 12 crew members. Only one British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh – who was seated in 11A – survived the crash.
NSG team deployed at the Air India plane crash site
A team from the National Security Guard (NSG) has been deployed to assist in relief operations at the site in Ahmedabad, where at least 265 people lost their lives, news agency PTI reported on Saturday morning.
Though the NSG is supporting central and state agencies at the scene, it does not hold any investigative authority in the matter, sources clarified.
NSG commandos were seen on the rooftop of the doctors’ hostel, where the aircraft’s tail remains lodged since the crash.
Multiple agencies—including the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Ahmedabad crime branch, and local police—are conducting a multi-agency investigation into the crash. Officials from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) also visited the site on Friday.
Meanwhile, authorities have announced that DNA analysis of remains recovered from the crash site of the London-bound flight will be significantly accelerated, aiming to complete the identification process within three days.
