Gujarat was plunged into mourning on Thursday as former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, a senior BJP leader who served as the state’s 16th CM from 2016 to 2021, was confirmed among the deceased in the Air India flight AI171 crash near Ahmedabad, according to media reports.

Rupani, aged 68, was one of the 242 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner that tragically crashed into a residential zone in Meghani Nagar just five minutes after takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The ill-fated flight was en route to London Gatwick.

This marks a somber moment in Gujarat’s political history, as it becomes the second instance of a sitting or former Chief Minister of the state dying in an air accident—a grim reminder of the 1965 air crash that killed Balwantrai Mehta, Gujarat’s second CM and a revered freedom fighter.

Eyewitnesses near the Meghani Nagar crash site described scenes of horror, recounting a loud explosion followed by billowing smoke. Emergency teams rushed to the scene to battle the blaze and rescue survivors amidst the chaos.

The doomed flight was captained by Sumit Sabharwal, with Clive Kunder serving as co-pilot. Officials have launched a full-scale investigation, with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) dispatching teams to the site.