WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
An Air India plane bound for London with 242 passengers and crew on board crashed minutes after taking off from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, the airline and police confirmed. India's federal health minister said "many people" were killed.
The plane was en route to Gatwick Airport in the UK, Air India said, while police officials said the aircraft crashed in a residential area near the airport.
"The building the plane hit is a doctors' home... We have cleared about 70 to 80 percent of the area and will soon complete the rest," a senior police official told reporters.
According to a Reuters source, 11 children were among the 242 people on board.
According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger jets in use.
According to television reports, the crash occurred shortly after takeoff. One channel showed the plane flying over a residential area, then disappearing from the frame, and then a large fire was seen erupting from the direction of the houses.
The footage also showed burning debris with thick black smoke rising into the sky near the airport. People were also shown on stretchers being carried away from the scene by ambulance.
The plane exploded outside the airport limits
The Indian Civil Aviation Authority reported, according to Reuters, that the plane crashed after takeoff "outside the airport perimeter".
According to initial information, the plane exploded.
The first video of the plane crash has also been released.
