EAM Jaishankar thanks foreign governments for condolences on Air India crash

New Delhi [India], June 13 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday thanked all foreign leaders and governments for their condolences in the Air India crash.

Jaishankar said that he appreciated this deeply.

In a post on X, he said, "Thank all foreign leaders and Governments for their condolences at the tragic loss of lives in the Ahmedabad air crash. We appreciate this deeply."

Condolences from leaders across the world are pouring in after a London-bound Air India flight, carrying 242 people, including 12 crew members, crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Czech Republic PM Petr Fiala, Finland's PM Petteri Orpo, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Czech Republic Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavsky, Austrian Ambassador to India Katharina Wieser, Taliban-led Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi, Consulate General of Afghanistan in Mumbai, the Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union to India and Herve Delphin offered condolences to the families of the victims.

According to an Air India statement, the Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating as Flight AI-171, departed from Ahmedabad at 1:38 pm IST with 242 people on board, including crew.

"The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft. Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals. The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals. We have also set up a dedicated passenger hotline number 1800 5691 444 to provide more information," the airline said in a statement.

The aircraft was under the command of Capt Sumeet Sabharwal with First Officer Clive Kundar. As per ATC, the aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from runway 23. It made a Mayday call to ATC, but thereafter, the aircraft did not respond to the calls made by ATC. Aircraft immediately after departure from Runway 23, fell on the ground outside the airport perimeter. The official said that heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident site. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)