Ahmedabad, June 12 || An Air India flight AI-171 travelling from Ahmedabad to London's Gatwick Airport crashed just minutes after takeoff on Thursday, prompting the closure of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport for all operations.
The plan crashed into a residential hostel for intern doctors shortly after takeoff, igniting a massive blaze and leaving a trail of destruction.
More than eight people are suspected dead, with dozens more injured or missing.
According to preliminary reports, the aircraft's wing clipped the third, fourth and fifth floors of the multi-storey hostel building near Meghani Nagar.
The impact caused a catastrophic fire that rapidly engulfed the structure, home to more than 50 people, including young medical interns and their families.
The fire's intensity left several trapped inside and forced others to leap from the upper floors in a desperate attempt to escape.
Eyewitnesses described scenes of panic and heartbreak.
"A man threw his child down from the fourth floor hoping to save her life," one local resident said.
A woman who jumped from the same floor suffered critical injuries.