Media: Death toll rises to 274 in Air India plane crash

The death toll from Thursday's Air India plane crash near Ahmedabad Airport in Gujarat has risen to 274, with 33 on-ground deaths having been confirmed, The Times of India reported on Saturday.

The casualty count increasing beyond the 241 passengers and crew confirmed dead in the crash suggested that the other 33 victims were likely people on the campus of Ahmedabad's BJ Medical College, said the report.

The Hindustan Times reported on Saturday that the Indian government has formed a high-level committee to probe the Air India crash, which will be headed by the home secretary and will have representatives, not below the rank of joint secretary, from the state and central governments. The Committee will publish its report within three months.

Air India's flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft, flying from the western Indian city of Ahmedabad to London, crashed on Thursday shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board with only one survivor.

It was the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade, Reuters reported. 

On Friday, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Air India and the Indian government were looking at several aspects of the crash including issues linked to its engine thrust, flaps, and why the landing gear remained open as the plane took off and then came down within moments.

The probe is also looking at whether Air India was at fault, including on maintenance issues, the source said.

The aviation ministry said that investigators and rescue workers had recovered the digital flight data recorder - one of the two black boxes on the plane - from the rooftop of the building on which the jet crashed.

There was no information on the cockpit voice recorder, the other black box, which is also crucial to the crash probe.

(With input from agencies)