The incident took place at around 18:25 local time (19:25 GMT) on Tuesday in the centre of Kerzers – known in French as Chiètres – in Fribourg canton, about 20km (12 miles) from the capital, Bern.

At least three people were taken to hospital, police said, and there were reports that a rescuer was also hurt.

The cause of the fire is not yet known but an investigation is under way into whether it was deliberately started.

There have been reports that a person doused themselves in gasoline but the authorities said they could not immediately confirm this.

Video posted by local media shows a bus in flames and a local resident described seeing a thick column of smoke.

The bus involved had reportedly travelled from the Düdingen municipality, 17km south of Kerzers.

Here’s where things stand on Thursday 12 June 2025:

• A London-bound plane has crashed shortly after take-off in Ahmedabad, western India
• Air India says: “Flight AI171, operating Ahmedabad-London Gatwick, was involved in an incident today”
• The plane is understood to have been carrying more than 200 passengers
• Tracking website Flightradar24 says it received the last signal from the aircraft at 625 feet (190m) “just seconds after take off”
• It appears to have crashed in a residential area, our South Asia correspondent reports

Live Reporting

(14:47) Parts of plane scattered at crash site

We can now bring you more pictures from the residential area in Ahmedabad where the Air India plane crashed:

(14:40) At least 50 medical students taken to hospital

We’ve just heard from India’s Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), which says some 50 to 60 students studying medicine were taken to hospital after the Air India flight crashed into a doctors’ hostel.

The association says five students are missing, and at least two are in the intensive care unit.

Relatives of some doctors are also missing. According to FAIMA, most of the passengers on the flight were brought to hospital dead.

(14:31) King and Queen ‘desperately shocked’ by crash

We’ve just had an update from the King, who says he and Queen Camilla are “desperately shocked by the terrible events in Ahmedabad this morning”.

“Our special prayers and deepest possible sympathy are with the families and friends of all those affected by this appallingly tragic incident across so many nations, as they await news of their loved ones.

“I would like to pay a particular tribute to the heroic efforts of the emergency services and all those providing help and support at this most heartbreaking and traumatic time.”

(14:27) Boeing says thoughts with all those affected

We’ve just had an updated statement through from Boeing – the company which manufactured the plane.

It says: “We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them. Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected.”

In its earlier statement, the company said it was working to gather more information.

(14:16) ‘We have lost a lot of people’ – Indian foreign ministry spokesperson

Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, at his weekly press briefing, calls the crash “a very tragic accident”.

“The rescue operations are on. We need to wait a little more time for exact details to be put out,” he says.

But he adds: “We have lost a lot of people. We extend our deepest condolences to all those who have lost their loved ones.”

(14:25) Some locals will have died – police chief

More from Ahmedabad’s police chief GS Malik, who earlier said there appear to be no survivors from the crash.

He also says that because the plane crashed in a residential area, “some locals would have also died”.

“Exact figures on casualties are being ascertained,” he says, according to AP.

(13:58) There appears to be no survivors, local police chief says

The police chief in Ahmedabad says there appears to be no survivors from the plane crash, according to reports from the AFP and AP news agencies.

(13:05) Crisis teams set up in India and the UK, Lammy says

The UK Foreign Office (FCDO) has arranged crisis teams in India and the UK, Foreign Secretary David Lammy says.

He tells the Commons: “My thoughts, and I’m sure those of the entire House, are with those who’ve been affected by the tragic plane crash in India this morning.

“We know that British nationals were on board and I can confirm that the FCDO is working urgently with local authorities to support British nationals and their families, and has stood up a crisis team in both Delhi and in London.”

(12:53) My son jumped from second floor of hostel as plane crashed, says mother

We are now beginning to hear from anxious relatives outside hospitals in Ahmedabad.

Poonam Patel, who is at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, tells news agency ANI that his sister-in-law was on the flight to London.

“Within an hour, I got the news that the plane had crashed. So I came here,” he says.

Ramila says her son had just gone into the doctors’ hostel for a lunch break when the plane crashed there.

She says he jumped from the second floor and suffered injuries, but is safe.

(12:41) Tragedy has stunned us, says Modi

We’re now hearing from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a post on X, he says: “The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words.

“In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it.

“Have been in touch with ministers and authorities who are working to assist those affected.”

(12:31) Where did the crash happen?

The Air India passenger plane crashed near the airport in Ahmedabad, western India.

The last signal was received seconds after take-off, according to Flight Radar, when the plane was at 625 feet (airport altitude is about 200 feet).

(12:25) Firefighters douse flames at crash site

The plane crashed in a residential area near the airport in Ahmedabad – police say it came down on a doctors’ hostel.

(12:24) King Charles being kept updated

The King is being kept updated on the developing situation after the Gatwick-bound plane crashed, Buckingham Palace says.

(12:22) First time a Boeing 787 has come down like this

This Air India crash is the first time a Boeing 787 aircraft has come down like this.

The model was launched 14 years ago and just six weeks ago the US planemaker lauded the fact the model, also known as the Dreamliner, has reached the milestone of carrying 1 billion passengers.

To mark that occasion the company said the global 787 fleet of more than 1,175 airplanes has flown nearly 5 million flights covering more than 30 million flight hours.

The crash is a blow for the company which has been struggling to overcome a range of problems, including fatal crashes, with its 737 programmes.

It will be another test for CEO Kelly Ortberg who is about to mark his first anniversary in the job.

He was brought in to try and help Boeing sort out a range of problems that were raising questions about its future.

(12:18) First statement from Boeing

We’ve had an update from Boeing – as a reminder, the plane that crashed is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.

“We are aware of initial reports and are working to gather more information,” the statement says.

(12:17) The scenes are devastating, says Keir Starmer

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says his thoughts are with the passengers and families of those on the Air India flight, which was bound for London Gatwick and crashed in Ahmedabad.

He says: “The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating.

“I am being kept updated as the situation develops, and my thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time.”

(12:14) Plane crashed into doctors’ hostel, say police

A senior police officer in Ahmedabad tells ANI news agency that the London-bound plane crashed into a doctors’ hostel, an accommodation for local medical professionals.

He says police, firefighters and other civic workers reached the spot within minutes. Rescue operations are still under way.

(12:13) Visibility was clear and weather was stable when plane crashed

Weather conditions were stable and clear when the plane crashed, says flight safety expert Marco Chan.

Surface winds were light and visibility was six kilometres, according to the aviation weather forecast at the time, known as METAR.

Chan adds “there were no significant clouds or weather phenomena reported, with no indications of wind shear, storms, or other adverse conditions that might have contributed to the incident”.

(12:10) UK working with Indian authorities – Foreign Office

The UK Foreign Office says “the UK is working with local authorities in India to urgently establish the facts and provide support to those involved”.

British nationals who require consular assistance or have concerns about friends or family should call 020 7008 5000.

(12:08) What we know so far

It’s been just over an hour since we first reported an Air India plane crashed near the airport in Ahmedabad.

Here’s what we know so far:

• There were 242 people on board, including two pilots and 10 cabin crew
• Of the passengers, there were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals

• The plane – a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – gave a mayday call to air traffic control after taking off, but then gave no response
• Signal was lost seconds after take-off when the plane had reached 625 feet (190m), according to Flight Radar
• The plane came down in a residential area near the airport
• “Everyone is running right now trying to save as many lives as possible,” 

(12:02) Firefighters working through smoke on charred streets

We’ve now got more pictures from the scene in Ahmedabad:

(12:00) Everyone running to save as many lives as possible

The scene here is very shocking. Everyone is running right now trying to save as many lives as possible.

A rescue operation is going on at the spot very near to the airport.

Ambulances are all over the area. Roads are blocked.

Emergency response teams are still trying to extinguish a fire.

People say they heard a loud sound and watched black smoke coming out. Many people started to gather here. Volunteers in the nearby area are trying to help as much as they can.

The fire brigade officials then started the rescue operation. Bodies are still being taken from the area.

There has been no official confirmation about the crash or the number of casualties.

(11:58) 169 Indian nationals on board

Air India has now given the breakdown of the different nationalities on-board flight AI171.

There were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals on board.

The airline says the injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals.

(11:56) Fifty-three British nationals on board – Air India

Fifty-three British nationals were on board the flight bound for Gatwick airport, Air India says.

Details of other nationalities on board are still coming in.

(11:52) Aircraft gave mayday call, regulator says

We now have a statement from DGCA, India’s aviation regulator, which says the flight “crashed immediately after take-off from Ahmedabad”. The statement says:

• There were 242 people on board the aircraft, including two pilots and 10 cabin crew (an official earlier said there were 244 people on board)
• The captain had 8,200 hours of flying experience. The co-pilot had 1,100 hours of flying experience
• The aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 13:39 IST from runway 23
• It gave a mayday call to air traffic control, but thereafter no response was given by the aircraft
• After departure, the plane crashed outside the airport perimeter

(11:41) All flights suspended at Ahmedabad airport

A spokesperson from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad says the airport is currently not operational. All flight operations are suspended until further notice.

(11:34) 232 passengers and 12 crew members on board, official says

Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, chief of India’s directorate of civil aviation, tells the Associated Press the plane crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar.

There were 232 passengers and 12 crew members on board, he says.

(11:31) State minister orders rescue efforts on ‘war footing’

The Chief Minister of Gujarat – where Ahmedabad is state capital – says officials have been instructed to carry out “immediate rescue and relief operations” and to make arrangements on a “war footing”.

“I have also instructed officials to arrange a green corridor to transport the injured passengers for treatment and to ensure all necessary medical arrangements are made at the hospital on priority,” Bhupendra Patel writes on X, external.

(11:28) Flight to Gatwick involved in tragic accident – Air India chairman

In a statement posted on X, Air India’s chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, says “with profound sorrow I confirm that Air India Flight 171 operating Ahmedabad London Gatwick was involved in a tragic accident today”.

“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event,” he says.

“At this moment, our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families.

“We are doing everything in our power to assist the emergency response teams at the site and to provide all necessary support and care to those impacted.

“Further updates will be shared as we receive more verified information. An emergency centre has been activated and support team have been set up for families seeking information.”

(11:26) First statement from Gatwick Airport

Gatwick Airport confirms the plane travelling from Ahmedabad was due to land at 18:25pm UK time.

In a statement on X, Gatwick Airport says: “We can confirm that flight AI171 that crashed on departure from Ahmedabad Airport today was due to land at London Gatwick at 18:25.”

First image from the scene

We are now getting images from the scene, showing black smoke billowing from the site of the crash.

We are on highest alert – minister

More now from Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, India’s aviation minister.

“We are on highest alert. I am personally monitoring the situation and have directed all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action.

“Rescue teams have been mobilised, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site. My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families.”

Shocked and devastated, says India’s aviation minister

India’s Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu says he is “shocked and devastated” at the crash in Ahmedabad.

We’ll bring you more from his statement shortly.

Plane has capacity of 256, SeatGuru says

The aircraft that crashed is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with registration VT-ANB, according to FlightRadar.

SeatGuru says the plane has a total of 256 seats onboard – it’s not known exactly how many of those were occupied.

It was scheduled to land at 18:25 at Gatwick.

The plane’s history shows it regularly flies between India and destinations including Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Amsterdam, and Melbourne.

What we know so far

• A passenger plane heading to London has crashed shortly after take-off in Ahmedabad, western India
• More than 200 people are believed to be on board
• The plane appears to have crashed in a residential area

• Signal was lost seconds after take-off when the plane had reached 625 feet, according to Flight Radar
• India’s aviation minister says rescue teams have been mobilised

Plane crashed outside airport perimeter – reports

India’s aviation regulator says the aircraft crashed after take-off “outside the airport perimeter”, Reuters news agency reports.

Signal from aircraft lost at 625 feet – Flight Radar

More now from flight-tracking website Flight Radar, which earlier said the signal was lost seconds after take-off.

Flight Radar says the Air India flight was scheduled to fly from Ahmedabad International Airport to London Gatwick Airport at 09:50 local time. Its scheduled arrival time was 18:25 local time.

The signal was lost at 10:08 local time at 625 feet, less than a minute after take-off.

Rescue teams mobilised, aviation minister says

India’s aviation minister says “we are on highest alert”, as “rescue teams have been mobilised”.

More than 200 passengers believed to be on board

The plane is understood to have been carrying more than 200 passengers.

Flightradar24 says last signal received seconds after take off

The flight tracking website, Flight Radar, says on X: “We are following reports of a crash of Air India flight #AI171, external from Ahmedabad to London.

“We received the last signal from the aircraft at 08:08:51 UTC, just seconds after take off.”

Plane appears to have crashed in residential area

Video on social media shows black fumes billowing. It appears to have crashed in a residential area.

Air India says incident involving flight bound for London Gatwick

We’ve just had this from Air India on X: “Flight AI171, operating Ahmedabad-London Gatwick, was involved in an incident today, 12 June 2025.

“At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates at the earliest.”

Plane crashes near airport in Ahmedabad, India

A plane has crashed near the airport in Ahmedabad, western India.

There are reports the plane was heading to the UK – that has not been confirmed.

According to Reuters agency, who cite police, 242 passengers were on board the flight.

We’re continuing to gather information on this fast developing story, stay with us.

District Judge Carl Nichols ordered the release of the documents based on a freedom of information (FOI) request by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative US think tank in Washington DC.

The foundation alleges that the prince concealed his past use of drugs, which should have disqualified him from obtaining a US visa.

The allegations centre around the Duke of Sussex’s claims in his memoir Spare, where he referred to taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms.

In the book, published in January 2023, Prince Harry wrote that he first tried cocaine at the age of 17.

“It wasn’t much fun, and it didn’t make me particularly happy, as it seemed to make everyone around me, but it did make me feel different, and that was the main goal,” he added.

He also wrote about using marijuana, saying “cocaine didn’t do anything for me”, but “marijuana is different, that actually really did help me”.

Application forms for US visas specifically ask about current and past drug use.

Admissions of drug use can lead to non-immigrant and immigrant visa applications being rejected, although immigration officers have discretion to make a final decision based on different factors.

The Heritage Foundation alleges that Prince Harry lied about his use of drugs to US immigration authorities, which can lead to a lifetime ban from the United States.

According to court records, the Department of Homeland Security has until the end of Tuesday to comply with the order and release the immigration records.

The BBC has contacted the White House and the duke’s office for comment.

The court’s ruling comes after a 2024 ruling by the same judge which said that there was not enough public interest in disclosing Prince Harry’s immigration records.

The Heritage Foundation contested that ruling and pushed for the judgement to be changed.

Prince Harry moved to the US with his wife Meghan in 2020 after stepping down as a working royal. It is not clear what visa he entered the country on, while the duchess is a US citizen.

President Donald Trump previously ruled out deporting Prince Harry in February, telling the New York Post “I’ll leave him alone… He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”

Meghan has been a vocal critic of Trump in the past, labelling him a “misogynist”.

A US federal judge has questioned why the Trump administration failed to obey his order halting the deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members.

James Boasberg, the top federal judge in Washington DC, ordered deportation flights to be turned around on Saturday night.

White House officials argued in a court filing that they did not defy the ruling. The argued in part that because Boasberg’s order was made orally rather than in written form, it was not enforceable – and that the planes had already left the US by the time it was issued.

Boasberg has ordered the administration to give further details about the deportations by noon (16:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

He has requested further details about the timing of the order under which the deportations occurred, as well as details about the flights themselves.

During a hearing on Monday, Boasberg said he clearly ordered the government to turn the planes around.

“You’re saying that you felt you could disregard it because it wasn’t in a written order?” he asked Department of Justice lawyers.

In the same hearing on Monday, the judge said he would not make another ruling in the case until a hearing scheduled for Friday.

In the meantime, government lawyers said that the deportations had been paused. The Trump administration also asked in a court motion that Boasberg be removed from the case.

The dispute began over the weekend when a group of 238 alleged Venezuelan gang members, plus 23 alleged members of the international MS-13 gang, were sent from the US to a prison in El Salvador.

Announcing the move on Saturday, Trump accused the gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) of “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States”.

He cited the Alien Enemies Act – legislation dating to 1798 that allows non-citizens to be deported in wartime. The act was last used during World War Two, when it was invoked to arrest and deport citizens of Axis countries.

Campaign groups have questioned Trump’s justification.

The act was used as the basis to deport 137 of the total of 261 people who were deported, the White House said on Monday. The basis on which the other deportees were removed from the US is unclear.

On Saturday, during the hearing that took place as several of the deportation flights were in the air, Boasberg ordered a 14-day pause.

After lawyers told the judge that planes with deportees already had taken off, he reportedly gave a verbal order for the flights to turn back “immediately”, although that directive was not included in a written ruling published shortly thereafter.

Nonetheless, a timeline of events reported by US media suggests the Trump administration had the opportunity to stop at least some of the deportations.

Under the US system of checks and balances, government agencies are expected to comply with a federal judge’s ruling.

But Trump’s Department of Justice argued, citing case law in a filing on Monday, that “an oral directive is not enforceable as an injunction”.

Administration officials also pointed out that the five named plaintiffs in the lawsuit that prompted the hearing were not among those deported, and also argued that once the flights left US airspace, the judge’s powers no longer applied.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “The administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order.”

Neither the US government nor El Salvador has named those who have been deported, or provided details of their alleged criminality or gang membership.

Several relatives of men believed to be among the group told the New York Times that their loved ones did not have gang ties.

The White House, for its part, has insisted that authorities are “sure” that the detainees were gang members, based on intelligence.

Trump’s border tsar, Tom Homan, told reporters at the White House on Monday that Trump did “exactly the right thing”.

“The plane was already over international waters with a plane full of terrorists and significant public safety threats,” he said.

“We removed terrorists. That should be celebrated in this country.

El Salvador has agreed to accept the deportees from the US.

The country’s president, Nayib Bukele, appeared to mock the judge’s ruling.

“Oopsie… Too late,” he posted on social media, along with a picture of a headline announcing the ruling and a ‘crying with laughter’ emoji.

His team also published footage of some of the detainees inside one of its mega-jails.

According to the White House, El Salvador’s government received $6m (£4.62m) to take the detainees, which Leavitt said “is pennies on the dollar” compared to the cost of holding inmates in US prisons.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which brought the lawsuit leading to the judge’s order, questioned Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, a sweeping wartime authority that allows fast-track deportations.

“I think we’re in very dangerous territory here in the United States with the invocation of this law,” said the ACLU’s Lee Gelernt.

The Alien Enemies Act only allowed deportations when the US was in a declared war with that foreign government, or was being invaded, Mr Gelernt said.

“A gang is not invading,” he told BBC News.

Making matters worse was the fact “the administration is saying nobody can review what they’re doing”, Mr Gelernt added.

Amnesty International USA said the deportations were “yet another example of the Trump administration’s racist targeting” of Venezuelans “based on sweeping claims of gang affiliation”.

Venezuela itself criticised Trump, saying he “unjustly criminalises Venezuelan migration”.

The latest deportations under Trump’s second term are part of the president’s long-running campaign against illegal immigration.

The two gangs targeted with the weekend deportations were declared “foreign terrorist organisations” by Trump after returning to the White House in January.

Timeline of the 15 March deportations

• 17:25 EDT: A first flight believed to be carrying deportees leaves Texas, according to data from tracking site Flightradar24. Take off happens while a hearing held by Judge Boasberg is paused. Earlier that afternoon, the White House said Trump was invoking the Alien Enemies Act
• 17:44 EDT: A second flight believed to be carrying deportees leaves Texas, according to Flightradar24
• 18:05 EDT: Boasberg’s hearing resumes
• 18:46 EDT: During the hearing, Boasberg verbally orders the government to turn around the two planes if they are carrying non-citizens, saying: “Any plane containing these folks – because it’s going to take off or it’s in the air – needs to be returned to the United States… This is something that you need to make sure is complied with immediately”
• 19:26 EDT: Boasberg issues his written ruling which includes a temporary restraining order on any further flights
• 19:36 EDT: A third flight believed to be carrying deportees leaves Texas, according to Flightradar24

The Surat Thani Provincial Public Relations Office said 26-year-old Alexandra Clarke from Lambeth, south London, was on board when the fire occurredin the ship’s engine room after 09:00 ITC (02:00 GMT) on Sunday.

Koh Tao Police said it believed the boat’s fuel tank overflowed when it was refilled during the journey, then set alight. Officers have charged the captain and crew with negligence.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British woman who is missing in Thailand and are in contact with local authorities.”

The provincial office’s Facebook post said: “After receiving the report (of the fire), the Surat Thani Provincial Marine Office coordinated with private boats and volunteers to quickly help evacuate tourists and crew to another boat safely.”

It added: “One tourist is missing, a female named Alexandra Clarke, a British national.

“The authorities therefore organised a search team for the missing person.”

Thai navy divers spent the day searching the wreckage of the boat and the surrounding seas but found no trace of the missing woman, who police said was thought to have been in the boat’s toilet when the fire broke out.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation but according to police, it broke out when an engine used to compress air into a fuel tank ran out during a trip to a popular dive spot in the Gulf of Thailand.

Col Sarayuth Buriwachira from Koh Tao Police said the tourists and diving instructors had been taken to the Southwest Pinnacle at about 07:30.

He said that at about 10:00 “an employee on the ship whose duty was to fill the air tank took extra gasoline to fill the engine tank above the amount until the gasoline overflowed and spilled”.

“When he started the engine, a spark occurred, causing the engine to catch fire and spread, causing the entire ship to burn and eventually sink into the sea.”

The fire spread quickly, he added, engulfing the engine room and forcing the divers, instructors and crew to jump into the sea.

He confirmed the search for Ms Clarke would resume on Tuesday morning.

The Thai government has frequently promised to improve maritime safety, in particular after 46 Chinese tourists died seven years ago when their boat capsized near Phuket, yet there have been several fatal accidents since then.

Last year more than 100 passengers had to leap into the sea from a ferry heading to Koh Tao after it was consumed by a fire.

Here’s a glimpse of what we’ll be covering: 

Weather:Finally, we’ll wrap up with a weather forecast for the whole world.

Local News:We’ll start with the happenings in your town.

National News:We’ll then turn our attention to the major events unfolding across your country

International News:We’ll also provide updates on key international developments

Business News:We’ll have a segment dedicated to the latest business news and economic trends

Sports News:We’ll also be covering the latest sports news.

Australia’s Home Affairs minister Tony Burke had earlier said his department was reviewing whether it could revoke Ms Jones’s visa, but the BBC understands that she left the country of her own accord.

“There has never been a better time to be a baby wombat,” Burke said in a short statement on Friday celebrating Jones’s departure.

Anger erupted across Australia after Jones posted a video of her taking a baby wombat from the side of a road while laughing and running away from the distraught mother wombat.

The video also shows the baby wombat hissing in distress before Jones then returns it to the bush.

Jones, who also goes by the name Samantha Strable, has nearly 100,000 followers and describes herself as an “outdoor enthusiast and hunter” on her Instagram profile. She has since made her account private and deleted her post.

Her video was swiftly met with widespread condemnation, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling the incident an “outrage”.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong called the video “dreadful”.

On Friday, opposition leader Peter Dutton said he thought it was “a cruel act” and that he was “glad” the influencer has now left.

An online petition demanding Jones be deported from Australia garnered more than 30,000 signatures.

However, as Jones had not been charged nor been deemed a threat to the country – the government may not have had any grounds to cancel her visa.

In since-deleted comments, Jones said “the baby was carefully held for one minute in total and then released back to mom”.

“They wandered back off into the bush together completely unharmed,” she wrote. “I don’t ever capture wildlife that will be harmed by my doing so.”

But wildlife experts have deemed Jones’s act a “blatant disregard” for native wildlife.

The Wombat Protection Society said it was shocked to see the “mishandling of a wombat joey in an apparent snatch for ‘social media likes'”.

Suzanne Milthorpe, Head of Campaigns at World Animal Protection Australia, told BBC Newsday that posting such a video for “cheap content” was “unacceptable”.

“To that baby it must have seemed like a giant predator was picking it up and taking it away,” she said.

Wombats, which are native to Australia, are a legally protected species across the country. Baby wombats share a strong bond with their mothers, and any separation can be distressing and harmful, conservationists say.

A new TikTok account claiming to be Jones after her original account was allegedly banned, published a post on Thursday saying that “the hate is currently too much for me to handle” and that there had been “hundreds” of death threats.

“Imagine someone just goes up to your child and curses at them? Let’s have some respect,” the post said.

Most, however, have remained critical of Jones’s act.

“Maybe imagine if someone picked up your child and laughed while you screamed for them to give them back,” read a comment under the post, a reference to Jones’s snatching of the wombat from its mother.

Footage of the evacuation showed passengers huddled on the wing of the Boeing airliner, some holding bags, with flames burning near the bottom of the plane.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said passengers used inflatable slides to reach the ground safely at theDenver International Airport. The agency said that it would investigate the cause of the incident.

There were no reports of serious injuries, although the airport later confirmed 12 people were taken to hospital for minor injuries.

The flight took off from nearby Colorado Springs and was on the way to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Texas, the FAA said in a statement to the BBC.

The plane diverted to Denver around 17:15 local time (23:15 GMT) after the crew reported “engine vibrations”, the FAA said.

After the plane landed, it caught fire while taxiing on the tarmac at the airport.

American Airlines said the plane had 172 passengers on board, along with six crew members. All were evacuated safely, the company said.

It added that the plane was a Boeing 737-800 and experienced an “engine-related issue”.

Smoke and flames were visible from various gates at the airport, according to airport spokesman Michael Konopasek. He said the fire was doused and it did not lead to delays for other flights.

Some of those inside the airport posted videos on social media showing the plane’s passengers walking toward the edge of the wing as large clouds of black smoke filled the air.

Ground crew can be seen rushing to the wing while pushing ladders.

Videos show flames under the plane’s right engine as an inflatable evacuation slide appears at the aircraft’s rear door.

The evacuation comes after a recent string of high-profile incidents in North America that have raised concerns about aviation safety.

A fatal crash in Washington DC left 67 people dead when an American Airlines regional jet collided mid-air with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter. The crash in the US capital city led to questions about air traffic controller shortages and their workloads.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has also terminated hundreds of FAA probationary workers as part of government cost-saving efforts.

The layoffs happened weeks after the fatal DC crash.

The laid-off FAA employees included maintenance mechanics, environmental compliance workers and technical assistants.

Trump has pushed to reduce government spending with tech billionaire Elon Musk spearheading efforts as part of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

The Air Busan plane caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in the country’s south on 28 January – causing three people on board to sustain minor injuries.

On Friday, South Korea’s transport ministry said that interim investigation results indicate the fire may have started because insulation inside a power bank battery had broken down.

The power bank was found in an overhead luggage compartment where the fire was first detected, and its debris had scorch marks, according to the statement.

Investigators could not say what may have caused the battery breakdown, it added.

The update is also based only on interim findings, and is not a final accident report on the aircraft, an Airbus A321ceo.

Airlines around the world have banned power banks from checked luggage for years due to safety concerns, which relate to the lithium-ion batteries inside the devices.

These batteries can produce extreme heat and fire if damage or manufacturing faults cause them to short circuit.

Lithium-ion batteries of any kind have been banned from the cargo holds of passenger planes since 2016, as per a directive by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

In the week after the Air Busan fire, the airline tightened those rules further, announcing that it would no longer allow passengers to keep power banks in their onboard luggage.

The carrier said the new rules were in response to an increase in the number of power banks that were overheating.

A growing number of airlines – including China Airlines and Thai Airways – are rolling out similar rules, with Singapore Airlines and its low-cost unit Scoot set to become the latest to ban the use and charging of power banks onboard from 1 April.

On 28 February, the South Korean government also announced that passengers boarding flights in the country would be required to carry portable batteries and chargers on their person, rather than storing them in overhead compartments.

According to US media reports, all the remaining migrants detained there were transported to another immigration facility in Louisiana.

In February, a separate group of migrants were abruptly moved from the facility after only a few weeks.

Shortly after taking office in January, President Donald Trump ordered that an existing facility used to hold migrants in Guantanamo Bay be expanded to hold some 30,000 people.

But so far, only a few hundred appear to have been sent there.

It is unclear why the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has brought the latest group of migrants held at Guantanamo back to the US. It declined the BBC’s request for comment.

The move, however, comes just days before a federal judge is due to hear a legal challenge on the legality of the federal government’s move to send migrants to Guantanamo, in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of human rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union.

US media report that 40 migrants were flown from Guantanamo to Alexandria in Louisiana on Tuesday and Wednesday, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has a processing facility.

A facility used to hold migrants at Guantanamo, called the Guantanamo Migrant Operations Center, has been used by both Republican and Democratic administrations for decades – a practice long-criticised by some human rights groups.

Another facility, a high-security military prison once used to house detainees suspected of terrorism offences, is also located at Guantanamo.

The Washington Post reports that as of 10 March, 23 migrants were being held in the military detention facility, while 17 others were detained in the Migrant Operations Center, citing a Pentagon official.

Last week, a defence official told the BBC the US military had last received a request from DHS to transport undocumented migrantsto Guantanamo Bayon 1 March, adding that it stood ready to assist if additional flights are requested.

The expansion of the existing migrant centre at Guantanamo is part of a wider effort to dramatically overhaul the US immigration system, which has included promises of mass deportations.

At a signing ceremony early in his term, Trump said that the facility would largely be used to hold undocumented migrants deemed to be dangerous criminals or national security risks.

“Some of them are so bad we don’t even trust the countries to hold them, because we don’t want them coming back,” he said of migrants. “So we’re going to send them to Guantanamo… it’s a tough place to get out.”

The administration’s “border tsar”, Tom Homan, defended the use of the facility as recently as last week and said that plans for its expansion were still under way.

On 4 March, for example, he said the facility was “the perfect place for the worst of the worst” and that plans for its expansion were still in place.

Court documents filed late last week show that about 300 migrants from 27 countries have gone through the facility.

Two separate lawsuits have been filed challenging migrant detention in such facilities.

In one case, a coalition of legal aid organisations is seeking a court order allowing detainees at the facility access to attorneys, including in-person visits.

A second lawsuit directly challenges the legality of transferring migrants detained in the US to Guantanamo.