Medical students were having lunch when Air India plane crashed into college hostel
Medical students were having lunch when the Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed into the Ahmedabad college hostel on Thursday, June 12.
The New York Times reported that an intern at B.J. Medical College, whose campus is near the end of the runway of the airport, was halfway through his meal of lentils, cabbage, and bread when the disaster struck.
"We only heard a blast,” Mohit Chavda said. “Then we just saw the dust and smoke coming inside with force.”
Lunch plates were left half finished in the dining hall, while the ripped-off tail of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner could be seen jutting out of the building.
Chavda said residents are used to high-intensity noise because of the building’s proximity to the airport. On that fateful day, they only thought it might be a plane flying too low—until it darkened.
“We didn’t know what to do," he said. "It was like our brains stopped working."
“We just got up and started running. We couldn’t see anything, but there is muscle memory: We knew which way the exit was," he added.
Chavda said they only realized that there had been a plane crash after getting downstairs and seeing the airplane's tail.
The crash occurred just after the plane took off from Ahmedabad Airport. A source told Reuters that the 242 passengers included 217 adults and 11 children. Of them, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven were Portuguese, and one was Canadian. Two pilots and 10 cabin crew were also aboard.
The incident left more than 200 people dead. One survivor—a 40-year-old British national who was sitting near the emergency exit and managed to jump out—has been found so far.
Rescue personnel suggested that at least three dozen people had been killed on the ground, with college dean Minakshi Parikh saying at least four medical students were among them. Dozens of others are being treated at the city's main hospital.
“Most of the students escaped, but 10 or 12 were trapped in the fire," Parikh said.
Authorities noted that a final number of fatalities will take time to confirm, as many of the bodies were badly burned. They're still being identified and counted through DNA testing.
New Delhi's government said it's setting up "a high-level committee comprising experts from multiple disciplines to examine the matter" and to "work to strengthen aviation safety and prevent such incidents in future."
