Air India crash investigation underway as search for evidence continues

The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel when it fell in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff Thursday.

Investigators searched the site of one of India’s worst aviation disasters and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the lone surviving passenger Friday, a day after an Air India flight fell from the sky and killed 241 people on board and several people on the ground.

The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel when it fell in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff Thursday.

DNA testing was being conducted to identify bodies that were mostly charred beyond recognition. More victims are expected to be found in the search at the crash site. There was no information on whether the black boxes — the flight data and cockpit voice recorders — had been recovered.

The plane hit a building hosting a medical college hostel and burst into flames, killing several students, in the city that is the capital of Gujarat, Modi’s home state.

“We are all devastated by the air tragedy in Ahmedabad. The loss of so many lives in such a sudden and heartbreaking manner is beyond words,” Modi said on social media after visiting the site. “We understand their pain and also know that the void left behind will be felt for years to come.”

Meanwhile, the Phuket International Airport in southern Thailand said Friday it received a report that a pilot of Air India flight AI 379, which was bound for New Delhi, found a bomb threat message shortly after the morning flight took off.

The plane requested an emergency landing back at Phuket and all 156 passengers were evacuated before authorities began an inspection of the plane, the airport said. The inspection results were not immediately announced.

The survivor was seen in television footage meeting Modi at the government hospital where he was being treated for burns and other injuries.