Ahmedabad plane crash: Jaishankar thanks foreign leaders, govts for their condolences

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday thanked all foreign leaders and governments for their condolences at the tragic loss of lives in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad.

The plane carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed minutes after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon.

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

The external affairs minister was in Europe on an official visit when the tragedy struck the Boeing 737 Dreamliner which was bound for London.

A number of world leaders, and embassies of various countries in India have expressed condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu were among the world leaders who on Thursday expressed solidarity with the people of India in the wake of the plane crash.

The London-bound Air India plane crashed into a medical college complex in Ahmedabad and burst into a ball of fire less than a minute after takeoff. The dead in the country's worst air disaster in recent times included several people on the ground Air India has confirmed that 241 people, who were on board, were killed in the crash. One person has survived the accident.