Shocking new footage shows students dangling from balconies and shimmying down tied-up bed sheets to escape the inferno caused by the deadly Air India crash.

Last week, India suffered one one the worst aviation disasters in its history after 241 people on the plane including the pilots and crew died as the Gatwick-bound Air India AI171 failed just seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad, western India.

Dozens more were killed after the plane crashed into a densely populated part of the city, with doctors saying that nearly 280 bodies have so far been recovered.

The plane crashed into an accommodation block for a medical college, and new footage shared by local media showed students frantically trying to escape the multi-storey building.

As thick, acrid smoke from flight AI171 towers above the city, students were seem screaming as the clambered down the makeshift ropes.