The Directorate General of Civil Aviation reported that flight AI-171 was operating from Ahmedabad to London with 242 people on board; fire and police teams rushed to the scene immediately after receiving the alert.

The crew consists of two pilots and 10 cabin crew members, while the passengers include 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national, and seven Portuguese nationals.

The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals, and Air India has set up a passenger assistance hotline to provide further information.

Three teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), comprising 90 people, were dispatched from Gandhinagar to the accident site; three other NDRF units are on their way from Vadodara.

An investigation is currently underway to determine the cause of the accident; all roads leading to the accident site have been closed to facilitate rescue and relief operations.

abo/mem/nvo