Ahmedabad, June 12 -- An Air India flight bound for London crashed shortly after take-off near the Meghani area, close to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, this afternoon.

The flight, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carried 242 people, including 230 passengers and 12 crew members. Visuals from the area showed thick black smoke in the air as more details about the accident were awaited.

The flight was identified as Air India 171, which online flight trackers showed is a 1.10 pm service from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad to the Gatwick Airport in London. Initial visuals from the crash site show thick plumes of smoke rising from what is believed to be a residential area. All access ro...