"We regret to inform that, of the 242 aboard, there are 241 confirmed fatalities. The sole survivor is being treated in a hospital," the airline said in a statement.

All but one of those on board an Air India flight bound for London Gatwick Airport that crashed shortly after take-off in western India on Thursday have died, the airline has confirmed.

The plane crashed into a building used as doctors' accommodation at the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College and Civil Hospital.