The death toll in the Air India aircraft crash in Ahmedabad has risen to over 250, official sources said on Friday. Apart from the 241 passengers who perished, four medical students and a doctor’s wife were among those dead, while two students were still missing.

While the Gujarat government is yet to declare the official death toll, even 30 hours after the accident, the government said special dog squads were employed in tracking down the deceased passengers and their limbs scattered at the accident site. 

Government officials on conditions of anonymity told businessline that the number of persons who have died in the incident has risen to over 250, which includes 241 passengers from the ill-fated aircraft, four medical students from the hostel where the aircraft crash-landed and five others who were near the accident site.

Officials from the Gujarat chapter of the Indian Medical Association said that at least four medical students and a doctor’s wife died after the Air India aircraft crashed into the residential complex where they were staying. Two were first-year students (Aaryan Rajput and Manav Bhadu) and the other two (Rakesh Diyora and Jayprakash Chaudhary) were second-year students. Two other medical students — Bhavesh Sehta and Aashish Meena — are still missing. Of the 50-odd people being treated at the civil hospital, 27 are medical students. Of these, 14 are first-year medical students, while 13 are second-year students.

On Friday evening, the Gujarat government issued a statement regarding the rescue efforts undertaken after the crash. Of the 50-odd injured admitted at the hospital, 12 persons have been discharged, the state government said. Eight bodies of victims who could be identified were handed over to the families on Friday, hospital authorities said. Meanwhile, DNA samples of over 219 relatives of the deceased have been collected. 

A day after the aviation disaster, teams from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other central agencies visited the accident site and began investigations. The Black Box from the aircraft was also recovered. Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, the Union Minister of Civil Aviation, stated on a social media platform, “The Flight Data Recorder (Black Box) has been recovered within 28 hours from the accident site in Ahmedabad by AAIB. This marks an important step forward in the investigation. This will significantly aid the enquiry into the incident.”

Meanwhile, the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel airport in Ahmedabad was made fully operational on Friday. The airport operations were suspended for a couple of hours on Thursday after the crash. Later in the day, the airport began partial operations. The Gujarat government also stated that 250 personnel of the Indian Army, one team from Rapid Action Force, three teams from NDRF and SDRF, 612 personnel from the fire brigade, 100 ambulances and 36 forensic experts were among those who assisted in the rescue and relief operations on Thursday.

Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani was among the deceased passengers, and a British national was the lone passenger from the flight that carried a total of 242 passengers.

Published on June 13, 2025