The death toll from the Air India AI171 flight tragedy has exceeded 270, with 241 of them passengers on board the plane, according to a police source directly involved in the rescue efforts who spoke to EFE this Saturday.

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Although an official statement with the definitive figures has not yet been issued, the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, indicated that the final toll could be “between 274 and 279 fatalities.”

This total includes passengers and crew as well as residents who died on the ground. The plane was carrying 242 people (230 passengers and 12 crew members), of whom only one, a British citizen of Indian origin, survived the impact.

In parallel, authorities have reported that the first bodies of the victims will begin to be handed over to their families starting tonight, as DNA tests are completed.

The tragedy occurred last Thursday, when the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operating Air India flight AI-171 crashed seconds after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at around 1:30 p.m. local time.

The plane, which was traveling to London, crashed in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.

According to the Air Traffic Control Tower, the pilot issued a “Mayday” emergency call shortly after takeoff, before the aircraft lost altitude and crashed into homes in the BJ Medical College residence.

According to local media, the victims on the ground include at least 10 doctors and their families, in addition to 24 medical students who were injured and remain under treatment.

The analysis of the plane’s black box, recovered on Friday, will be crucial to determine whether the failure was technical or human and to reconstruct the last 30 seconds of the flight. More than 100 workers and 40 engineers are continuing efforts to remove the remains of the aircraft from the area.

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