Ahmedabad plane crash site: 'We jumped to survive' — interns flee fire as jet slams into doctors’ hostel

Dubai: “My son jumped from the second floor and broke his leg. He’s lucky to be alive,” said a tearful mother outside the scorched remains of a doctors’ hostel in Ahmedabad, where an Air India Dreamliner crashed just minutes after takeoff.

As the London-bound flight AI-171 plunged into the multi-storey hostel housing intern doctors, it sparked a massive fire that engulfed the upper floors. With flames racing through the building, panicked residents began jumping out of windows to escape the inferno.

“A man threw his daughter from the fourth floor hoping she’d survive,” a witness told IANS. “People were leaping out in desperation. It was chaos.”

The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner carrying 242 people, had just taken off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport when it crashed into the Meghani Nagar building, clipping the third to fifth floors.

At least eight to nine people are feared dead, while dozens are injured or missing. Emergency teams are working through the night to recover bodies and rescue those still trapped.

Even as firefighters and NDRF personnel battled the blaze, a darker development unfolded: thieves allegedly looted safes, cash, and jewellery from inside the hostel.

According to officials, individuals posing as volunteers entered the crash site during rescue efforts and ransacked personal belongings left behind by fleeing or injured residents.

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“This is not just a tragedy — it’s a betrayal,” an official said. “People came here to help, and others came to steal.”

The incident has triggered public outrage, and Ahmedabad Police are investigating the thefts.

The aircraft’s black box has been recovered, and early reports suggest the crash may have been caused by double engine failure due to a bird strike shortly after takeoff.

Experts say this is the first-ever fatal crash involving a Dreamliner, a model that had logged millions of safe flight hours globally.