1 Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ Flight path 2 Last signal 3 KOCHI l friday l june 13, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE city EDITION 1. Initial impact, tail stuck 2. Building & surroundings destroyed; 3. Engine found Crash site Ahmedabad The plane crashed after reaching an altitude of about 825 feet. The tail got stuck on the roof of a medical college hostel as plane burst into flames after hitting the ground In a nutshell D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad The tragedy is heartbreaking beyond words. I’ve been in touch with ministers and authorities to assist those affected Narendra Modi, PM I let them know that anything we can do -we’ll be over there immediately. But it was a horrific crash. One of the worst in aviation history Donald Trump, US Presdient Scenes emerging of the plane crash are devastating. Being updated as the situation develops Keir Starmer, UK PM Difficult day for all of us. Now focused entirely on needs of our passengers, crew members, their families Campbell Wilson, CEO, Air India P robably among the worst disasters in India’s aviation history an Air India , Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, operating from Ahmedabad to Gatwick, crashed just minutes after takeoff, leaving at least 290 people feared dead on Thursday afternoon. The aircraft, carrying 242 people — 230 passengers and 12 crew — went down in the densely populated Meghaninagar area near the Forensic Cross Road shortly after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1.38 pm. The crash occurred at around 2 pm, and within moments huge flames engulfed residential buildings and commercial structures near the impact zone. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) set up a probe team. Among the passengers on board were 169 Indians, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese nationals, one Canadian, and former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani. He was reportedly going to London to meet his daughter. Authorities initially feared there were no survivors. “It appears there are no survivors in the plane crash,” Commissioner GS Malik told reporters immediately after the crash. However, in the evening, he confirmed that one passenger — seated in 11A — had been miraculously rescued and was undergoing treatment at a hospital. “We cannot confirm the final toll yet, especially as the aircraft crashed in a residential area,” he said. The devastation on the ground was horrifying as the crash site included Atulyam Flats, home to staff from the Civil Hospital. According to sources, approximately 50 bodies have been recovered so far. At the time of the crash, nearly 200 people were believed to be inside the three residential buildings housing 94 flats, raising fears that the toll may significantly rise. The aircraft crashed onto the BJ Medical College PG hostel, collapsing parts of four buildings, killing at least 50 medical students. Six bodies have been recovered from the hostel so far. There was utter chaos at Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital, with the hospital ran short of body bags. The ill-fated aircraft was commanded by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a veteran with over 8,200 hours of flying experience, and First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged approximately 1,100 hours. As fire and rescue teams battled the inferno and sifted through debris, Home Minister Amit Shah visited the injured and chaired an emergency meeting with Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu and Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel. They reviewed the ongoing rescue efforts and discussed the next steps in managing the fallout of the catastrophic crash. Across the world, UN chief Antonio Guterres, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney were among scores of world leaders who offered condolences. Guterres said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the plane crash. President Putin said,“Please convey my sympathy and support to the families of those killed and my wishes for a swift recovery to those P7 injured in the crash.”  Air India 171 Boeing 787 Dreamliner Ahmedabad to Gatwick Departure: 1339 IST Runway No: 23 mayday! mayday! A series of video grabs show how the flight ascended and started descending before crashing. (Right) The tail got stuck in the roof of medical college hostel 241 on flight dead 169 Indians 1 Canadian 53 British 2 Pilots 7 Portuguese 10 Cabin crew Marking a major milestone in the Central Vista redevelopment, the process of vacating iconic administrative buildings such as North Block, South Block, and Shastri, Nirman, Udyog and Krishi Bhawans has formally begun. Ministries housed in these decades-old structures are set to shift to the newly built Common Central Secretariat (CCS) Building 3, which is now in its final stage of readiness. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will occupy over 200 rooms on the 4th to 6th floors. The Ministry of Exter- nal Affairs (MEA) would get at least 100 rooms on the 3rd floor, which it will share with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, allotted 25 rooms. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Department of Personnel and Training, currently in Shastri Bhawan and North Block, have been allotted 150 and 90 rooms across the lower floors. The Ministry of Rural Development and the MSME Ministry including , the Land Resources and Development Commissioner, will move from Udyog, Krishi and Nirman Bhawan to the 2nd and ground floors of CCS 3. A CPWD facilitation desk has killed on ground 1 survivor ex-Gujarat CM Rupani miraculous: ramesh among dead in crash lives to tell tale ed a different flight. Yet a leaked passenger manifest clearly listed “Vijay Ramniklal FORMER Gujarat Chief Min- Rupani” as the 12th traveller ister Vijay Rupani was among in the Business Class Z-categothe dead in the plane crash. ry on the doomed aircraft. Gujarat BJP PresiSources close to the dent and Union Minisformer CM revealed ter CR Paatil confirmed that he was planning the worst: “Vijay Rupathe London visit to ni was also on the flight bring back his wife, to meet his family He is . Anjali Rupani. Rupaa victim of this accini’s Rajkot residence dent. This is a huge was a grim picture with Vijay Rupani loss for the BJP .” tense family members, Contradictions deepneighbours, and wellened when a close aide of wishers gathered in stunned Rupani insisted he had board- silence. D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad Malayali nurse’s death shocks Pullad P’thitta: Ranjitha Gopakumaran Nair, 39, a nurse from Pullad in Pathanamthitta, is among the victims of the Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad. She was returning to the UK, where she worked, after a brief visit to her home. P4 Formal investigation initiated, says minister New Delhi: Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said. “A formal investigation has been initiated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), in line with international protocols set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).” A team of US investigators (National Transportation Safety Board) will assist the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau with its investigation. Govt offices start to move out as Central Vista project picks up pace Pa r v e z S u lta n @ New Delhi 50 *Final toll to be out after DNA tests on bodies been set up to coordinate the move. Nodal officers will assist with movement plans, parking, safety features and services. The relocation marks a historic transition from buildings that have housed India’s administration for decades. North and South Blocks were conceptualised over a century ago when the capital shifted from Kolkata to Delhi. The Bhawans, built 60 to 70 years ago, currently house 51 ministries and departments. Ministries in Nirman and Shastri Bhawan were recently asked to prepare for relocation by October or November to enable construction of CCS Buildings 4, 5 and 9. Interior work and digital infrastructure in CCS 3 are currently being finalised. EXPRESS READ Monsoon may reach Delhi by June 25 New Delhi: New Delhi and Northwest India may get relief from the ongoing heatwave next week as the Southwest Monsoon is likely to advance between June 19 and 25, according to IMD. It has forecast widespread rainfall across central, east and northwest India starting next week. 19,168 drug offenders nabbed in spl drives T’Puram: A whopping 19,168 people have been arrested so far this year for drug-related offences, while a staggering 18,427 cases under NDPS Act were registered in the special anti-drugs drives of police and excise departments. P5 16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad Miracles do happen. Once in a while there are instances when humans do cheat death. One such example was when one person walked out of the Air India crash on Thursday. What seemed even outrageously miraculous was the way he walked out from the inferno with some bruises. He was shaken. Ramesh Vishwaskumar, a British citizen seated on 11A, survived a tragedy that 241 other on board could not. “Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise,” he told local reporters, all of whom had milled around him with deep disbelief. “There were dead bodies around me. I got scared. I got up and ran. There were pieces of the plane everywhere.” His chest, eyes, and feet bore “impact injuries,” but he lived to tell the tale. In the viral video now making rounds on social media, Ramesh can be seen limping away from the wreckage, clothes torn, blood streaking down his face—an image l e t h a l i mpac t M ayday call in two minutes but no contact after that. Mayday call is given at a time of full emergency T he plane was flying very low and it crashed into the residential quarters of doctors and nursing staff of civil hospital and BJ Medical college Pilots Captain Sumeet Sabharwal: 8,200 flying hours of experience First officer Clive Kundar: 1,100 hours of flying experience Worst flight disaster in terms of casualties The deadliest crash was in 1996, when a Saudia and Kazakhstan Airlines flight collided mid-air near Charkhi Dadri, Haryana, killing 349 people Previous lethal disaster Ramesh Vishwaskumar etched with trauma and raw survival. Originally from India, Ramesh has lived in London for the past 20 years with his wife and child. His return trip was supposed to be a brief family reunion; instead, it turned into a brush with death. But the trauma didn’t end with survival. His brother Ajay Vishwaskumar, who was also on the same flight, is currently 'missing'. Two of Ramesh’s friends have rushed to Ahmedabad from Diu, hoping for another miracle and fearing the worst. Ramesh was rushed to a hospital by ambulance soon after escaping the wreckage. Doctors have termed his injuries nonlife-threatening, but emotional toll will take time to heal. India’s worst single-aircraft crash was on Jan 1, 1978, when Air India’s Boeing 747, Emperor Ashoka, crashed, killing all 213 on board shortly after takeoff to Dubai past tragedies 2020 Air India Express with 190 on board skidded off Kozhikode runway, fell 35 feet and split 2010 Air India Express plane from Dubai crashed at Mangalore airport with 166 on board 1985 In 1985, an Air India flight was bombed mid-air; all 329 died This could go down as one of the worst plane crashes in the history of aviation Tata Group to provide 1 crore to kin of deceased, to take care of medical needs Oil spill from fire-damaged container ship may reach state coast by June 14 S h a i n u M o h a n @T’Puram The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has warned the state government that the oil spill from the fire-damaged cargo vessel Wan Hai 503 could reach Kerala coast by Saturday, triggering a potential environmental crisis. As per the simulated forecast by INCOIS, the ocean information service provider under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, the oil spill could begin washing ashore between Chavakkad and Kochi by June 14 and Ernakulam coast by June 15. The simulation based on the presumed spill of 100 tonnes of fuel oil starting Wednesday (June 11) was conducted using INCOIS forecast Oil spill may reach between Chavakkad and Kochi by June 14 and Ernakulam by June 15 60% probability of drifting containers and debris reaching Kerala shore in 4-5 days Ship was carrying over 2,000 tonnes of fuel; exact spill status unknown advanced forecasting models by INCOIS. The agency has warned the state government of potential shoreline contamination and ecological damage owing to the oil spill and has advised immediate response from local authorities. The warning comes three days after the Singapore-flagged cargo vessel Wan Hai 503 caught fire following a container explosion on June 9, approximately 70 nautical miles off the Kozhikode coast. The vessel, which was en route to Mumbai’s Nhava Sheva port from Colombo, remains unmanned and adrift. INCOIS, working in coordination with the Indian Coast Guard, activated its Search and Rescue Aid Tool (SARAT) and Oil Spill Trajectory System to simulate drift patterns and guide emergency responses. In addition to the oil spill concerns, the drift of containers and debris pose navigational and safety risks.  ● More on P4