Images released by Indian government officials show the tail of a passenger jet wedged into a building in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Photo: CISF India via X

Rescue operations are underway after an Air India plane crashed near Ahmedabad airport on Thursday. Photo:PTI / AP

Footage posted to social media shortly after the crash and verified by NBC News shows plumes of thick, black smoke rising from a civilian location to the south of the airport.

“Exact figures on casualties are being ascertained,” he said.

The flight crashed midday local time shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport with 242 people aboard.

Kanan Desai, a top city police official, later told Reuters that 204 bodies had so far been recovered from the crash site and brought to local hospitals. That figure could also include those who died on the ground from the impact, he added.

The plane’s tail could be seen protruding from the wall of a building in a picture from the crash site shared on X by India’s central police force. Other images showed rescuers standing next to charred wreckage and a downed tree near a residential complex.

The plane was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members, a spokesperson for the airline told NBC News.

Among the passengers were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals, the airline said in a separate statement. “The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals,” it added.

The airline did not provide nationalities of the crew members.

It was not immediately clear how many passengers had died aboard the flight that was scheduled to depart at 1:10 p.m. local time (3:40 a.m. ET), and expected to land in London at 6:25 p.m. local time (1:25 p.m. ET).

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X that the tragedy had “stunned and saddened us.” “It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it,” he added.

Separately, the country’s Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on X that he was “shocked and devastated.”

“I am personally monitoring the situation and have directed all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action,” he added. “Rescue teams have been mobilized, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site.”

Calling the scenes “devastating,” Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement he was being kept updated on the situation. Buckingham Palace said King Charles III was also being updated.

The aircraft involved is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, according to flight tracking site Flightradar24, which said it received the last signal from the aircraft just seconds after takeoff.

“We are aware of initial reports and are working to gather more information,” Boeing said in a statement.

Plane crashes are not common in India, which boasts some of the world’s strictest air standards after being rattled by a series of bombings and hijackings from the 1970s to the 1990s.

The crash saw Boeing shares drop more than 8% in premarket trading.

Once a state-owned airline, Air India in 2022 came under the control of the Indian conglomerate Tata Group, whose chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said an emergency center had been activated for family members seeking information.

“Our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families,” he said in a statement posted on X.