Even more people on the ground were killed by the fireball. Read more

Police anticipate that there are no survivors on the Gatwick-bound Boeing that crashed in India this morning carrying 242 passengers, including 53 Britons.

‘It appears there are no survivors in the plane crash,’ regional police chief G.S. Malik told reporters as rescue teams carried out desperate efforts to locate victims.

He added that with the plane crashing in a residential area with some offices, ‘some locals would have also died.’

Aviation experts say that the plane may have suddenly lost power ‘at the most critical phase of flight’ after takeoff.

The possible causes are believed to include a rapid change in wind, bird strike or weather, with an investigation yet to uncover what caused Flight 171 to crash.

Videos shared on social media showed an aircraft rapidly losing altitude – with its nose up – before it hit a building and exploded into an ball of fire.

Parts of the jet appeared to have smashed into a local medical college and hospital.

The number of fatalities is not yet known but rescuers said at least 30 bodies have so far been recovered from a building.

‘Our office is near the building where the plane crashed. We saw people from the building jumping from the second and third floor to save themselves. The plane was in flames,’ said one resident, who declined to be named.

Air India’s Flight 171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad Airport in Gujarat at around 1:40 pm (0810 GMT), officials said.

The passengers included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian. Eleven of those on board were children, including two newborns.

Two pilots and 10 cabin crew were also aboard.