Search engine giant and US-based tech company, Google, mourned the loss of lives in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad with an image of a 'black ribbon' pinned prominently on the homepage below the search bar. The icon has been placed just below the search bar. "In memory of the victims of the tragic plane crash," reads a message when the mouse is hovered over the image of the ribbon.
The London-bound plane carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed into a medical college complex here and burst into a ball of fire on Thursday moments after takeoff.
Air India has confirmed that 241 people, who were on board the AI171 flight, were killed in the crash. One person has survived and is currently undergoing treatment for injuries sustained during the accident. Besides 169 Indians, 53 British, one Canadian and seven Portuguese nationals were on board the flight that crashed near the Ahmedabad airport.
The 11-year-old aircraft -- Boeing 737 Dreamliner -- could be seen from miles away, losing altitude rapidly and combusting in a fiery blaze that sent plumes of thick black smoke spiralling up in the air. The twin-engine wide-body aircraft crashed in the city's civil hospital and BJ Medical College outside the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport perimeter. Several people on the ground also died in what was the country's worst aviation disaster in recent times.