India plane crash toll hits 18

The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been recovered from the site of an Indian passenger aircraft crash in a southern state, a top official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation told Reuters on Saturday.

Both "black boxes" were found, the official said.

The Air India Express plane, which was repatriating Indians stranded from Dubai due to the COVID-19 pandemic, overshot the runway of the Calicut International Airport in heavy rain near the southern city of Kozhikode on Friday.

On Saturday, the death toll rose to 18, with 16 people severely injured in the crash.