(CNN) -- At least 158 people are feared dead after a passenger jet overshot a runway, crashed into a valley and burst into flames in southern India on Saturday morning, officials said.
Rescue teams had recovered 127 bodies at the wreckage site outside Mangalore International Airport by mid-afternoon, Air India Director Anup Srivastava told CNN.
Eight of the 166 people onboard Air India Flight IX-812 survived the crash and were taken to hospitals, he said.
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The Boeing 737 took off from Dubai and crashed while trying to make its scheduled landing in Mangalore at 6:30 a.m. Saturday (9 p.m. ET Friday), Srivastava said.
Witnesses said the plane crashed through the hilltop airport's boundary wall and fell into a valley, CNN-IBN reported.
Rescue teams had recovered 127 bodies at the wreckage site outside Mangalore International Airport by mid-afternoon, Air India Director Anup Srivastava told CNN.
Eight of the 166 people onboard Air India Flight IX-812 survived the crash and were taken to hospitals, he said.
Are you there? Send photos, video
The Boeing 737 took off from Dubai and crashed while trying to make its scheduled landing in Mangalore at 6:30 a.m. Saturday (9 p.m. ET Friday), Srivastava said.
Witnesses said the plane crashed through the hilltop airport's boundary wall and fell into a valley, CNN-IBN reported.
Survivors told CNN's sister network that they jumped out of the plane after it crashed, seconds before it burst into flames.
Rescue workers struggled to reach the crash site in a hilly wooded area beyond the runway, the network said. Smoke from the plane also hampered rescue efforts, CNN-IBN reported.
Abhay Pathak, a regional manager for Air India based in Dubai, said there were 160 passengers on board the plane and six crew members.
Of the passengers, 32 were women, 105 were men, 19 were children and four were infants, he said.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced financial aid for the victims Saturday and canceled scheduled events at his residence to mark the end of his first year in office.
The government said families would receive 200,000 rupees, or about $4,260, for each dead passenger and 50,000 rupees, or $1,064, for every injured passenger.
The airline has offered relatives of crash victims in the United Arab Emirates free passage to India, Pathak said, and about 20 people have accepted the offer.
Srivastava said India Air was investigating the crash and trying to confirm casualties.
The pilot did not report any problems before landing the plane, the civil aviation ministry said.
The Mangalore airport reported calm wind, no rain and a visibility of 6 km at the time of the crash, the ministry said.
Boeing released a statement saying the company would send a team to provide technical assistance to Indian authorities during their investigation.
Rescue workers struggled to reach the crash site in a hilly wooded area beyond the runway, the network said. Smoke from the plane also hampered rescue efforts, CNN-IBN reported.
Abhay Pathak, a regional manager for Air India based in Dubai, said there were 160 passengers on board the plane and six crew members.
Of the passengers, 32 were women, 105 were men, 19 were children and four were infants, he said.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced financial aid for the victims Saturday and canceled scheduled events at his residence to mark the end of his first year in office.
The government said families would receive 200,000 rupees, or about $4,260, for each dead passenger and 50,000 rupees, or $1,064, for every injured passenger.
The airline has offered relatives of crash victims in the United Arab Emirates free passage to India, Pathak said, and about 20 people have accepted the offer.
Srivastava said India Air was investigating the crash and trying to confirm casualties.
The pilot did not report any problems before landing the plane, the civil aviation ministry said.
The Mangalore airport reported calm wind, no rain and a visibility of 6 km at the time of the crash, the ministry said.
Boeing released a statement saying the company would send a team to provide technical assistance to Indian authorities during their investigation.
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