Survival and loss in Air India plane disaster

Grieving families are mourning at least 279 killed when a London-bound passenger jet crashed in India, with the victims in Ahmedabad ranging from a top politician to a teenage tea seller.

One man on board the plane, which was carrying 242 passengers and crew, miraculously survived the fiery crash on Thursday afternoon.

But that lone British citizen was the only story of escape from the jet.

"I saw my child for the first time in two years, it was a great time," said Anil Patel, whose son and daughter-in-law had surprised him with a visit from Britain.

"And now, there is nothing," he said, breaking down in tears. "Whatever the gods wanted has happened."

Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian on board the flight bound for London´s Gatwick airport, as well as 12 crew members.

At least 38 people were killed on the ground.

The nose and front wheel of the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner landed on a canteen building where medical students were having lunch.

Mohit Chavda, 25, a junior doctor in Ahmedabad, described how he escaped through choking black smoke after the plane smashed into the dining hall.

"There was almost zero visibility," Chavda said. "We were not able to see even who was sitting beside us — so we just ran from there."

Scorch marks scar the buildings, where chunks of the plane were embedded into its walls.