When an Air India flight crashed into a medical campus, surviving doctors rushed to save lives

AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Navin Chaudhary had just begun eating his meal when a loud bang startled him. He turned back to see a massive fire taking over the dining area where he and other trainee doctors had assembled for lunch.

The blaze approaching him, he rushed toward a window and jumped.

From the ground, looking upwards, the sight of the Air India plane's tail cone hanging from the burning building propelled Chaudhary and fellow medical students into action.

“There was fire and many were injured,” said Chaudhary.

He said he felt lucky to survive but knew he had a task at hand. He rushed to the hospital’s intensive care unit, where the injured, most of whom had burns, were wheeled in on stretchers.

“I felt that as a doctor I could save someone’s life,” he said. “I was safe. So I thought, whatever I can do, I should.”

At least 270 died when the Air India flight crashed into the campus of a medical college in Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff on Thursday. Only one passenger among the 242 aboard survived. At least 29 others on the ground, including five medical students inside the hostel, were also killed.

Many believe that the death toll would have been higher if it had not been for the intervention of the trainee doctors and students who emerged from the smouldering hostel and rushed to save their colleagues.

Akshay Zala, a senior medical student, said the crash felt “like an earthquake.”

“I could hardly see anything as thick plumes of smoke and dust engulfed everything. I was barely able to breathe,” he said.

Zala rushed to safety, running through dust and smoke. He cleaned and bandaged a wound on his left leg then joined others at the medical college’s trauma center to treat the injured.

On Monday, the crash site teemed with excavators and workers clearing the debris. Officials inspected the building in search of clues that could enable the investigators to figure out what led to the tragedy.

Barely a kilometer (less than a mile) away, trainee doctors who survived one of India's worst aviation disasters were still working to identify the victims through DNA testing.

Indian authorities have so far handed over the remains of 47 victims The bodies of 92 others have also been identified through DNA matching and will be transferred to relatives soon.

College dean Minakshi Parikh said that many of the doctors who pulled their colleagues out of the debris, later that day went back to their duties to save as many lives as they could. “They did that and that spirit has continued till this moment,” Parikh said.

Images of the hostel’s dining area shortly after the crash showed parts of the aircraft and pieces of luggage strewn on the floor. Dining plates still containing food lay on the few dusty tables that were left intact by the impact.

“So that is human nature, isn’t it? When our own people are injured, our first response is to help them," Parikh said. "So the doctors who managed to escape ... the first thing that they did was they went back in and dug out their colleagues who were trapped inside.”

“They might not even have survived because the rescue teams take time coming," she added.

Hussain reported from Srinagar, India.

Family members carry coffin of Meena Patel, victim of the Air India plane crash, during his cremation at a crematorium in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Family members of Dilip Patel and Meena Patel, both victims of the Air India plane crash, pays last respect to their parent during the cremation at a crematorium in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Anjali Rupani, the wife of former Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani, who died in the Air India plane crash, is comforted by her son during a wreath-laying ceremony outside the mortuary of a hospital in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

In this image taken from a video, Navin Chaudhary, a doctor who witnessed Thursday's Air India plane crash, speaks to The Associated Press in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Shonal Ganguly)

Political leaders gather to pay respect to the body of former Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani, victim of Thursday's Air India plane crash, at a hospital in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Anjali Rupani, second left, wife of former Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani, victim of Thursday's Air India plane crash, pays respect after receiving his body at a hospital in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Rushabh Rupani, son of former Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani, consoles his mother Anjali Rupani as they receive the body of Vijay Rupani, who died in Thursday's Air India plane crash, in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

A health worker take DNA sample of a family member of a victim of an airplane that crashed in India's northwestern city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

A health worker take DNA sample of a family member of a victim of an airplane that crashed in India's northwestern city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Dozens of people are presumed dead and about 100 injured, most of them seriously, following a fire at a Swiss Alps bar during a New Year’s celebration, police said Thursday.

“Several tens of people” were killed at the bar, Le Constellation, Valais Canton police commander Frédéric Gisler said.

Work is underway to identify the victims and inform their families but “that will take time and for the time being it is premature to give you a more precise figure," Gisler said.

Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the Valais Canton, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire. Experts have not yet been able to go inside the wreckage.

“At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack,” Pilloud said.

Officials called the blaze an “embrasement généralisé,” a firefighting term describing how a blaze can trigger the release of combustible gases that can then ignite violently and cause what English-speaking firefighters would call a flashover or a backdraft.

“This evening should have been a moment of celebration and coming together, but it turned into a nightmare,” said Mathias Rénard, head of the regional government.

The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, Rénard said.

Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to assist victims, including some from different countries, officials said.

“We are devastated,” Frédéric Gisler, commander of the Valais Cantonal police, said during a news conference.

The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, according to regional councilor Mathias Rénard.

The municipality had banned New Year’s Eve fireworks due to lack of rainfall in the past month, according to its website.

In a region busy with tourists skiing on the slopes, the authorities have called on the local population to show caution in the coming days to avoid any accidents that could require medical resources that are already overwhelmed.

The community is in the heart of the Swiss Alps, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Matterhorn, one of the most famous Alpine peaks, and 130 kilometers (81 miles) south of Zurich.

The highest point of Crans-Montana, with a population of 10,000 residents, sits at an elevation of nearly 3,000 meters (1.86 miles), according to the municipality’s website, which says officials are seeking to move away from a tourist culture and attract high-tech research and development.

The municipality was formed only nine years ago, on Jan. 1, 2017, when multiple towns merged. It extends over 590 hectares (2.3 square miles) from the Rhône Valley to the Plaine Morte glacier.

Crans-Montana is one of the top race venues on the World Cup circuit in Alpine skiing and will host the next world championships over two weeks in February 2027.

In four weeks’ time, the resort will host the best men’s and women’s downhill racers for their last events before going to the Milan Cortina Olympics, which open Feb. 6.

Crans-Montana also is a premium venue in international golf. The Crans-sur-Sierre club stages the European Masters each August on a picturesque course with stunning mountains views.

From left, Mathias Reynard, State Councillor and president of the Council of State of the Canton of Valais, Stephane Ganzer, State Councillor and head of the Department of Security, Institutions and Sport of the Canton of Valais, Frederic Gisler, Commander of the Valais Cantonal Police, Beatrice Pilloud, Attorney General of the Canton of Valais and Nicole Bonvin-Clivaz, Vice-President of the Municipal Council of Crans-Montana during a press conference in Lens, following a fire that broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

A skier walks in the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

A banner stating that fireworks are prohibited due to the risk of fire is pictured near the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)

Police officers inspect the area where a fire broke out at the Le Constellation bar and lounge leaving people dead and injured, during New Year’s celebration, in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. (Alessandro della Valle/Keystone via AP)