Taoiseach offers condolences after India plane crash

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has offered his condolences to the families of those who died after a London-bound plane crashed in India.

Air India said the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft was leaving Ahmedabad Airport with 242 people on board.

The airline said 169 passengers were Indian nationals, 53 were British, seven were Portuguese and one was Canadian.

“It is horrific and very, very sad what has happened in India, the plane (crash) just shortly after departure, I believe less than a minute,” the Taoiseach said.

“Our thoughts and our prayers are with the families of those bereaved, crew members bereaved, and with the people of India, Britain and Canada. The world is a much closer place, we all travel.

“It is extremely sad and shocking that an accident of this scale has occurred with the loss of so much life.”

He noted that it took place close to the 40th anniversary of the Air India flight 182 disaster, in which the plane crashed off the coast of Ireland on June 23 1985 as a result of a terrorist attack.

“All of us who experienced that had a sense of trauma that people go through when crashes of this kind happen,” he said.

Tánaiste and minister for foreign affairs Simon Harris also extended his sympathy “to all of those caught up” in the “very tragic and horrific” crash.

“We think of all of them and their families in what is an evolving story, with no doubt, more information to come,” he told the Irish parliament.