Air India crash death toll hits 270, families wait for bodies

The death toll in the deadly Air India plane crash rose to 270 on Saturday, with families increasingly getting upset due to delays in handing over bodies which were badly charred in the tragedy in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 242 people on board bound for Britain's Gatwick Airport began losing height seconds after take-off on Thursday and erupted in a fireball as it hit buildings below, in what has been the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.

At least 270 bodies have been recovered from the site of the plane crash, Dhaval Gameti, president of the Junior Doctors Association at B.J. Medical College, told reporters.

Only one of the 242 passengers and crew onboard survived while others were killed as the plane struck the medical college's hostel as it came down.

The crisis has cast a shadow on Air India, which has for years struggled to rebuild its reputation and revamp its fleet after the Tata Group took over the airline from the Indian government in 2022. Tatami chairman said on Friday the group wants to understand what happened, but "we don't know right now."

Air India and the Indian government were looking at several aspects of the crash including issues linked to its engine thrust, flaps, and why the landing gear remained open as the plane took off and then came down, Reuters has reported.

Dozens of anxious family members have been waiting outside an Ahmedabad hospital to collect bodies of loved ones killed in the crash, as doctors were working overtime to gather dental samples from the deceased to run identification checks and DNA profiling.