The first reports of the identities of the victims are starting to come through as the clean-up continues.

Akeel Nanabawa and Hannaa Vorajee and their 4-year-old daughter Sara, of the UK, have been named as three of the 241 confirmed dead.

The BBC reported that Abdullah Samad, the headteacher of Sara's primary school described Sara as a "ray of sunshine" who "lit up the classroom".

"They helped fundraise for the humanitarian efforts in Gaza and medical care for poor individuals in India. That was part of their service to the community," he said of the parents.

The Guardian is reporting a resident saw people jumping from a building to save themselves from the flames after the plane crashed.

The residents told AFP they saw people jumping from the second and third floors.

A doctor at the hostel said the “the nose and front wheel landed on the canteen building where students were having lunch".

He also said he had saved 15 students with his colleagues and saw about “15 to 20 burned bodies”.

University of Otago Department of Psychology Emeritus Professor David O’Hare, who has studied aviation safety, said after looking at the small amount of data available, a number of things could have caused the crash.

He said it could be engine power loss, the plane’s flap setting, or its undercarriage.

“This aircraft appears to have had a normal take-off roll but something has compromised the climb-out performance.

“This might be something to do with the undercarriage and/or the flaps or something else entirely (e.g. bird strike, although a double strike affecting both engines is extremely rare).”

O’Hare said that incidents like this can make it seem like air travel is unsafe; however, “these events are exceedingly rare”.

India has suffered a series of fatal air crashes, including a 1996 disaster when two jets collided mid-air over New Delhi, killing nearly 350 people.

In 2010, an Air India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in southwest India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew on board.

Experts said it was too early to speculate on what might have caused Thursday's crash.

"It is very unlikely that the plane was overweight or carrying too much fuel," said Jason Knight, senior lecturer in fluid mechanics at the University of Portsmouth.

- AFP

Prominent New Zealand-Indian Community Leader Narendra Bhana said his community was in “deep sorrow” over the tragic plane crash.

“We stand in solidarity with the people of Gujarat and all of India during this time of mourning.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured, the rescue teams, and everyone working tirelessly to provide support on the ground.”

He said the community “feel the pain” of their brothers and sisters back home and offered any assistance they could provide.

“May the departed souls rest in peace, and may the bereaved families find strength in this difficult time.”

The BBC is reporting that all the bodies have been removed from the crash site.

The news site heard from a police official on the ground that it took “hours to make sense of the chaos".

“And it’s going to take many more hours to completely clear up the site.”

“And it’s not just those on board.

“The building the plane crashed on, the hospital, was full of medical students. Many have died, from our understanding.”

A candlelight vigil will be held in Auckland’s Mt Eden tonight for the victims of the Air India plane crash.

The Auckland Indian Diaspora Group said it wanted to gather in “memory of the innocent lives tragically lost in the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad, India”.

“Members of the Indian community and wider public will come together in prayer, reflection, and solidarity with the victims and their families during this difficult time.”

The vigil will be held at the Shree Radha Krishna Temple, Mahatma Gandhi Centre, at 5pm.

CNN is reporting the sole survivor of the plane crash is “not very critical” and could be released from hospital soon.

Dr Rajnish Patel, professor and head of surgery at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, told CNN that Vishwash Kumar Ramesh is “well under management and not very critical”. 

“He has some blood in the images, but he’s not very badly injured. He is very comfortable and under strict observation, no issues”.

He said the victim is possibly suffering from “post-traumatic amnesia”.

“What he says is that at one moment there was a lot … there was some kind of noise. And the other moment he was out. And then when he got up, he was surrounded by dead bodies and all,” Patel said.

The family members of the deceased are gathering outside Civil Hospital’s post-mortem room in Ahmedabad.

BBC reporters spoke to T. Thanglingo Haokip, whose cousin, Singson, was a cabin crew on the flight.

He said he had been trying “for hours” to get information on his cousin.

“Her parents are worried. She only has a mother, her father passed away. Her brother has cancer. She was the only breadwinner in the family. Her family was wholly dependent on her."