For Mistry Jignesh, 72 hours feel like an eternity. Since Thursday evening, Mr Jignesh and his family have been doing the rounds of the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, trying to find details of his 22-year-old niece - one of the 242 passengers that died in an Air India plane crash earlier that day.

The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel in a residential area of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff Thursday, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. One passenger survived.

An Air India plane crashed Thursday near a major international airport in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, the airline and the country’s government said.