Grieving families crowded a hospital in western India's Ahmedabad on Friday, offering blood samples for DNA testing while medical workers labored to identify victims of a devastating plane crash that claimed at least 265 lives.
The London-bound Boeing 787-8 aircraft, carrying 242 people, crashed earlier on Thursday shortly after it took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, about 17 kilometers south of Gandhinagar, the capital city of Gujarat.
According to the latest media reports, a total of 265 dead bodies had already been brought to a local government hospital in Ahmedabad city.
Among the dead, 241 were passengers aboard the ill-fated Boeing aircraft, while the remaining casualties occurred on the ground.
Friday’s footage revealed heartbroken relatives anxiously gathered outside Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, as ambulances transported bodies from the nearby plane crash site.
Inside the hospital, medical workers collected blood samples, preparing them for DNA testing to identify the recovered bodies. The black box of the 12-year-old Boeing 787-8, flight AI171, was recovered Thursday night. Preliminary data suggests the plane failed to achieve a normal takeoff, possibly due to a malfunction in its landing gear system.
Air India, operator of the ill-fated aircraft, expressed its deepest condolences to the families of the victims and assured full cooperation with authorities in the ongoing crash investigation.
Grieving relatives crowd hospital for DNA identification after fatal India plane crash
U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that Israel's attack on Beirut "should not have happened," while the Israeli military said it will continue its operations in Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that the Israeli military struck Hezbollah targets in southern Beirut's Dahieh suburb on Sunday, in response to firing into Israeli territory.
Meanwhile, Lebanese media reported an Israeli airstrike targeted a building in the Ghobeiri area in Beirut's southern suburbs.
The strike drew criticism from Trump, who said a regional peace deal, including Lebanon, was "very close" and urged all parties, especially Israel, to stand down.
"We are very close to a deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon, and all sides should stand down," he wrote on Truth Social.
"This morning's attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran," he wrote.
Israel's Sunday strikes should not disrupt the diplomacy efforts for a U.S.-Iran peace deal, Trump said.
"There should be no more attacks by Israel anywhere in Lebanon, but there should also be no more attacks by any other party, including Hezbollah, against Israel," the U.S. president added.
On the same day, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir, during his inspection of the Northern Command, said Israeli forces will continue military operations in Lebanon in an effort to secure more favorable terms in future U.S.-mediated negotiations between the two sides.
Zamir said the IDF's operations in key areas such as the Beaufort Ridge in southern Lebanon were crucial, and that Israeli forces will continue their offensive and deepen their ground advance in necessary areas to eliminate security threats posed by Hezbollah.
He added that the IDF remains on high alert for potential developments on other fronts.
Trump says Israeli strike on Beirut should not have happened; Israel says it will continue Lebanon operations
