Chandigarh, Jun 12 (PTI) Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Thursday called the plane crash in Ahmedabad "sad and painful" and prayed for the safety of all the passengers onboard.

A London-bound Air India plane carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed moments after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon. Many people are feared killed.

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According to Air India, the Boeing 787-8 aircraft from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick was carrying 242 passengers and crew members. Of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese and one Canadian national.

"The news of the unfortunate Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad is sad and painful. I pray to God for the well-being of the passengers and the aircraft crew," Saini said in a post on X in Hindi.

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Political leaders from opposition parties including Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja and Randeep Singh Surjewala of the Congress and Indian National Lok Dal president Abhay Singh Chautala also said they were deeply saddened by the news of the plane crashing in Gujarat's Ahmedabad.

Former Haryana chief minister Hooda said, "The news of the crash of Air India passenger plane in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) is extremely sad and heart-wrenching. I pray to God for the well-being of all the passengers and crew members!" Hooda said in a post on X.

Congress leader and Sirsa MP Kumari Selja said she was deeply saddened by the news of the Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad.

"I pray to God for the safety of all the passengers and crew. My condolences are with all the affected families in this hour of crisis," Selja said in a post on X.

Surjewala said the news of the plane crash is extremely sad and heartbreaking while INLD's Abhay Chautala said the incident has saddened everyone's heart.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)