India plane crash: Death toll rises to at least 279

The death toll from the fiery crash of a London-bound passenger jet in an Indian city climbed to 279 yesterday as officials sought to match the DNA of victims with their grieving relatives.

The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner issued a mayday call shortly before it crashed around lunchtime on Thursday, bursting into a fireball as it hit residential buildings.

A police source yesterday said that 279 bodies had been found at the crash site in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, making it one of the worst plane disasters of the 21st century.

There was just one survivor out of 242 passengers and crew on board the jet when it crashed, leaving the tailpiece of the aircraft jutting out of a hostel for medical staff.

Emergency services kept up their recovery efforts on Saturday, extracting a badly burnt body from the tailpiece before cranes were used to remove the wreckage.

At least 38 people were killed on the ground.

Distraught relatives of passengers have been providing DNA samples in Ahmedabad, with some having to fly to India to help with the process.

The first body of a passenger to be handed over to relatives was placed in a white coffin yesterday before being transported in an ambulance with a police escort, footage from the state government showed.

Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on Friday that a flight data recorder, or black box, had been recovered, saying it would "significantly aid" investigations.

Forensic teams are still looking for the second black box as they probe why the plane lost height and crashed straight after takeoff.

The aviation minister said on Saturday that authorities "felt the need to do an extended surveillance of the Boeing 787 planes", with eight out of Air India's 34 Dreamliners inspected so far.