A lone passenger survived the fiery crash of an Air India passenger plane in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad that killed more than 260 people bound for London and others on the ground, in the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade, officials said.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, with 242 people on board, was headed for Gatwick Airport, south of the British capital, and crashed into a medical college hostel during lunch hour shortly after takeoff, sending a massive fireball into the sky.

The death toll includes medical students who were in the hostel when the plane hit the building, said Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer in the northwestern city. “Most of the bodies have been charred beyond recognition,” Chaudhary said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Kanan Desai told reporters that “265 bodies have reached the hospital.” That suggests that at least 24 people died when the jet ploughed into the hostel – and that the toll may rise further as more bodies are located.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah confirmed that a single passenger survived the crash and said he met him at the hospital. A doctor said he had examined the survivor, whom he identified as Vishwashkumar Ramesh.

“He was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body,” Dr Dhaval Gameti told The Associated Press (AP). “But he seems to be out of danger.”

Ramesh, who was in seat 11A, next to an emergency exit, according to Chaudhary, told Indian media how he had heard a loud noise shortly after take-off.

“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed,” the 40-year-old told the Hindustan Times.

“It all happened so quickly,” he told the paper from his hospital bed.

“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me,” he said. “Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”

He said that his brother, Ajay, was seated in a different row on the plane. “He was travelling with me and I can’t find him anymore. Please help me find him,” he said.

Black smoke billowed from the site where the plane crashed and burst into flames near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city of more than five million and the capital of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.

Firefighters doused the smoking wreckage of the plane, which would have been fully loaded with fuel shortly after takeoff, and adjacent multistory buildings with water.

Charred bodies lay on the ground and parts of the fuselage were scattered around the site. Indian army teams were assisting civil authorities to clear debris and help treat the injured.

A video on social media showed the jet slowly descending as if it were landing. As soon as it disappeared out of view behind rows of houses, a giant fireball filled the sky.

At the crash site, the tail cone of the aircraft with damaged stabilizer fins still attached to it was lodged near the top of one of the buildings.

In a social media post, Modi called the crash “heartbreaking beyond words” and said “my thoughts are with everyone affected.”