Through the morning, many ambulances have come out of the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad where families have gathered. But the ambulances aren't carrying survivors - they are for the bodies of victims.

BBC correspondent Samira Hussain, who is at the scene, says she saw one grieving woman whose cries echoed through the compound.

Image source, Family handout

Gloucestershire family Akeel Nanabawa and Hannaa Vorajee were killed in the crash and died alongside their four-year-old daughter Sara.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Imam Abdullah says the community is still coming to with the enormity of what happened on Thursday in Ahmedabad.

"This young family was incredibly close-knit - devoted parents and their beautiful young daughter," he says.

"They were comionate, active of the community who regularly volunteered at our local Islamic school and for various local projects. They were widely loved and deeply respected.

"His quiet generosity, her warmth and kindness, and their daughter’s bright, joyful spirit made a lasting impact on everyone who knew them.

"She was a ray of sunshine in her school, and they were a pillar of strength in our lives."

• Yesterday, the headteacher of Sara's primary school, also paid tribute to the Gloucester family.

After a painful night of waiting, several families are still camped out outside Ahmedabad's civil hospital.

Many have submitted DNA samples to identify their loved ones and it will take a while for bodies to be handed over.

Here's what the BBC's Vikas Pandey saw at the scene.

In the last few moments, Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a message of condolence to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to Beijing's state media.

President Xi also "sent a message of condolence to King Charles of the United Kingdom over the significant British casualties", state broadcaster CCTV said.

Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a veteran Air India pilot with nearly three decades of experience, is among those who died in the crash.

With more than 8,200 hours of flying experience, Captain Sabharwal was the senior-most crew member on the flight. He was a Line Training Captain (LTC), a role entrusted to only the most seasoned pilots responsible for mentoring younger crew .

The 60-year-old pilot was just months away from retirement and had planned to spend more time with his 82-year-old father, who is a former official with India's civil aviation regulatory body, The Indian Express newspaper reported.

“He was very reserved, disciplined. We used to see him come and go in uniform often, but he was a very reserved person,” Sabharwal’s neighbour in Mumbai told the newspaper.

The co-pilot, First Officer Clive Kundar, had logged approximately 1,100 hours of flight time and was certified to operate the Dreamliner that crashed.

Vikas Pandey
Reporting from Ahmedabad

At least eight people who were not on the Air India plane have also died in the crash, a senior health official in Ahmedabad has told the BBC.

Four of them were medical students who were living in one of the buildings where the plane crashed, she said.

The other four were relatives of other students who were living in the hostel.

We are just hearing from our colleagues in Thailand that an Air India flight (AI379) from the southern island of Phuket, bound for New Delhi, was diverted back to the airport after reports of a bomb threat on Friday morning.

Phuket International Airport said the pilot alerted air traffic control at 09:30 local time (03:30BST) of a message about a bomb threat found on the plane.

An emergency landing was requested.

The plane, carrying 156 engers, which took off at 09:15 local time landed safely at 11:38, according to flight tracking websites.

Phuket airport said on Facebook they have activated an airport contingency plan and will provide further updates.

Yogita Limaye
Reporting from Ahmedabad

At the hospital where they've brought the dead and injured, we're hearing gut-wrenching stories.

We've just heard about the death of a 15-year-old boy, Akash, who was living in the building where the plane crashed. He was working part-time in a cafeteria there.

His mother Sita Ben - who also worked at the cafeteria - suffered serious burns when she went in to try and rescue him and is now itted to the hospital.

We met his older brother, Kalpesh, who's absolutely inconsolable. He was looking at a photo of his little brother and mother and was weeping inconsolably.

Akash's father who was near the site said he heard the big explosion. But by the time he got to the site, there were fumes, and smoke coming from everywhere. His wife had already been taken to hospital. And then he heard that his son had not survived.

Samira Hussain
Reporting from Ahmedabad

Outside the hospital in Ahmedabad, we met this grief-stricken woman.

Her 25-year-old nephew, who lives in the UK, had come to India to perform the final rites of his father, who died on 29 May. He was returning to his wife in the UK.

Her cries echoed around the hospital. More such scenes will be witnessed here as family arrive at the hospital to identify their loved ones.

Vikas Pandey
Reporting from Ahmedabad

Many relatives of the deceased have been coming to the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad.

It has been a long and painful night for them.

Some are still waiting in lines to give their DNA samples. Those who have already given them are anxiously waiting to hear from authorities.

One official told the BBC that DNA testing is the only way to identify the bodies of those who died in the crash.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Separately, at least 16 Air India flights have either turned back or been diverted "due to the emerging situation in Iran and the subsequent closure of its airspace", the airline wrote on X, external.

Most of these flights were headed to or coming from places in Europe and North America.

"Alternative arrangements are being made to fly engers to their destinations," it added.

You can read all the updates from Israel's attack on Iran here.

Archana Shukla
India business correspondent

Shares of Singapore Airlines tumbled nearly 2% on Friday - the day after the deadly Air India crash in Ahmedabad.

The airline holds 25.1% stake the carrier after the merger of Vistara - the low-cost carrier it partially owned along with the Tata Group - with Air India in November 2024.

Last month Singapore Airlines posted a record $2.8bn net profit for the financial year ended March 31, following a one-off gain of $1.1bn from the Air India-Vistara merger.

Our reporter Vikas Pandey says security has been tightened at the crash site as investigators begin arriving today. The smell of smoke and burnt metal hangs in the air as rescue personnel continue to search through the debris.

It's mid-morning in Ahmedabad, and recovery workers are continuing to comb through debris at the crash site as families wait for their relatives' remains to be released. Here's what's happened in the last few hours:

• India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited the scene and a hospital where wounded people were taken. He didn't speak to reporters but was filmed inspecting the debris
• The remains of people killed are still being recovered from the crash site - earlier, Reuters reported that 81 bodies had been recovered so far. All but one of the 242 people on board the Air India flight were killed
• Family have been gathering to give DNA samples as work continues to identify the deceased. Two parents at the local hospital tell the BBC police are not allowing the release of bodies until identification is confirmed

• The sole survivor, Vishwashkumar Ramesh in seat 11A, "has no idea how he survived", his brother earlier told the BBC
• Aviation experts say it's "almost inexplicable" how just one person survived - they say often in crashes, either you see a large number of survivors, or you see none because the accident was so severe
• The cause of the crash is still not known and investigators are still searching for the two black boxes that will provide more details - but BBC has spoken to experts who believe there are three potential reasons

Samira Hussain
Reporting from Ahmedabad

Scenes at Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital are far more subdued this morning than they were the day before.

The grim reality has set in - this is no longer a search for survivors, but the agonising task of identifying the dead.

Every so often, a coffin emerges from the post-mortem room, followed closely by grieving families. But for so many more people, it will be days before they can bring the bodies of their loved ones, to their final resting place.

Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

Air India, India’s flagship carrier, has a mixed but steadily improving safety record. While the formerly state-run airline - privatised in 2021 - has faced incidents in the past it has also operated thousands of international and domestic flights safely over decades. Some of the major incidents involving the airline:

• In August 2020 Air India Express Boeing 737 overran the runway at Kozhikode, killing 18 and injuring 16.
• In May 2010 Air India Boeing 737 overshot the runway at Mangaluru, resulting in 158 fatalities.
• In July 2000: Alliance Air - an Air India subsidiary - crashed in Patna, with over 50 fatalities.
• In April 1993: an Indian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed during take-off in Aurangabad, killing 55 people.
• In August 1991: a Boeing 737 flight from Kolkata crashed near Imphal during descent, leaving all 69 on board dead.

The latest crash is the first fatal incident involving a 787 and the airline's most serious since 2020.

As we reported earlier, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent around 20 minutes at the site of the plane crash. He did not speak to reporters afterwards.

But a video posted a little while on his YouTube channel shows him walking around the site and inspecting the debris.

He was also seen at the location featured in a now-viral image that shows the tail of the crashed plane lodged in a building. In the original video, a voiceover in Hindi describes what the prime minister is seeing.

He was accompanied by federal Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu and other senior officials.

Vikas Pandey
Reporting from Ahmedabad

There is still plenty of debris at the site. The wing of the plane is still lying here. It’s charred.

There is much better crowd control today - even reporters are not being allowed to go close to the crash site.

As we reported earlier, investigators have started arriving on the scene.

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier in the morning, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson visited the crash site. He was surrounded by reporters asking questions but did not make any comments.

On Thursday, Wilson had expressed his "deep sorrow" over the tragedy and said that Air India’s efforts were "focused entirely on the needs of our engers, crew , their families and loved ones".

Image source, AFP via Getty Images