Sri Lanka, June 12 -- At least 290 people have been killed when an Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from the western city of Ahmedabad earlier today (Jun 12) in the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.

At least one person is known to have survived, police said, and the man told Indian media how he had heard a loud noise shortly after take-off.

The plane came down in a residential area, crashing onto a medical college hostel outside the airport during lunch hour. It was headed for Gatwick Airport, south of the British capital.

Police chief Malik said earlier that the bodies recovered could include both passengers and people killed on the ground.

Federal minister CR Patil...