Top Asian News 2:57 a.m. GMT

China and Hong Kong national security authorities launch 1st publicly known joint operation

HONG KONG (AP) — China’s national security authorities in Hong Kong and the city’s police launched their first publicly known joint operation, raiding the homes of six people on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security. The police’s statement on late Thursday did not disclose the identity of the six people suspected of breaking the 2020 Beijing-imposed national security law between November 2020 and June 2024. Beyond their homes, officers searched the office of the organization involved and seized exhibits such as bank documents and devices for further investigation, according to the statement. The six people were required to surrender their travel documents.

Fiery Air India crash kills 241 people aboard, leaving 1 survivor, airline says

AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — An Air India plane bound for London crashed in a residential area of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff Thursday, killing 241 people on board, the airline said. One passenger who was thrown from the plane survived. At least five medical students in a college hostel were killed when the plane hit the building and burst into flames, according to a medical association officer. “Most of the bodies have been charred beyond recognition,” said Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer in the city in northwestern India. Indian Home Minister Amit Shah confirmed that he met the sole survivor at the hospital.

Lone passenger survives the deadly Air India crash

The lone passenger to survive the Air India crash that killed 241 people on board Thursday found himself near debris after being thrown out of the plane and walked to a nearby ambulance for aid, a medic said. A doctor at Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital identified the man as Vishwashkumar Ramesh, and Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said he met the survivor. The airline said he was a British national of Indian origin. “He was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body,” Dr. Dhaval Gameti, who treated Ramesh, told The Associated Press. “But he seems to be out of danger.” Another medic said Ramesh told him that immediately after the plane took off, it began descending and suddenly split in two, throwing him out before a loud explosion.

Before crash, Air India spent years attempting a turnaround after emerging from government control

The deadly crash of an Air India flight carrying more than 240 people on Thursday arrives after years of efforts to turn around the country’s flag carrier — which had been plagued by tragedy and financial losses under prior state ownership. In 2010, an Air India flight arriving from Dubai overshot the runway in the city of Mangalore and plunged over a cliff, killing 158 people out of the 166 on board. And in 2020, a flight for Air India Express, a subsidiary of Air India, skidded off a runway in Southern India during heavy rain and cracked in two — killing 18 people and injuring more than 120 others.

A look at Boeing’s recent troubles after Air India crash

The crash of a Boeing 787 passenger jet in India minutes after takeoff on Thursday is putting the spotlight back on a beleaguered manufacturer though it was not immediately clear why the plane crashed. The Air India 787 went down in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad with more than 240 people aboard shortly after takeoff, authorities said. It was the first fatal crash since the plane, also known as the Dreamliner, went into service in 2009, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. Boeing shares fell more than 4% in afternoon trading. The 787 was the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium ion batteries, which are lighter, recharge faster and can hold more energy than other types of batteries.

AP PHOTO: Air India plane’s tail juts from a building

AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — At first glance, the photo looks unreal: the tail of an airliner jutting out from an unremarkable building. There are no people in the image — no rescuers, no police, none of the thousands gathered outside the cordon. But it captures the violence of the Air India crash: the ripped tail fins still clinging to the plane, the jagged cavity torn into the building’s facade, the web of cracks spriraling outward. The battered building in Ahmedabad, quiet in the stillness that follows the devastation, had served as the dining area for medical students. The London-bound plane that crashed was carrying more than 240 passengers — there was one survivor.

The Latest: A single passenger survived Air India crash that killed 240 people

A single passenger survived the fiery crash of an Air India passenger plane in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad, killing more than 240 people bound for London and others on the ground, officials said. It was not immediately clear what may have caused one of India’s worst airline disasters in decades. A video of the crash shows the plane with with its nose pointed upward, sinking toward the ground before slamming into a medical college. “Most of the bodies have been charred beyond recognition,” said Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior police officer. This is the first crash of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner since the widebody, twin-engine planes went into service in 2009, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.

A look at previous plane crashes in India

NEW DELHI (AP) — India has had several major plane crashes in recent decades. An Air India flight with more than 240 people on board crashed in the city of Ahmedabad on Thursday. Here are some previous aircraft accidents in India: An Air India Express flight to bring back Indians stranded abroad by the COVID-19 pandemic skidded off a runway in heavy rain and cracked in two in southern India. Eighteen people including the two pilots were killed and more than 120 were injured. The Boeing 737-800 was flying from Dubai to Kozhikode in Kerala state. An Air India flight arriving from Dubai overshot the runway in the city of Mangalore and plunged over a cliff, killing 158 people out of the 166 on board.

Is air travel safe? Deadly Air India plane crash renews concerns after a string of other crashes

At least 240 people were killed when an Air India plane crashed Thursday into a medical school shortly after takeoff. It was the latest in a long list of aviation disasters this year. One passenger survived the crash but everyone else aboard the Boeing 787 was killed. More people died on the ground after the plane crashed and generated a large fireball. Black smoke billowed from the site where the plane crashed and burst into flames near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city of more than 5 million and the capital of Gujarat. All the aircraft crashes and near misses have fueled many worries about flying.

Family pleads for the release of a Nepali student abducted by Hamas

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The family of a Nepali man taken captive by the Palestinian militant group Hamas appealed Thursday to his captors for his release, stressing that he has no involvement in the conflict in Gaza. Bipin Joshi, now 25, was among 17 Nepali students studying agriculture in southern Israel during the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack that ignited the war in Gaza. Joshi had worked hard in a government competition to earn a spot to study in Israel, his 17-year-old sister Pushpa Joshi said Thursday in Kathmandu. He arrived in southern Israel just three weeks before the attack. It was his first time out of Nepal.