NEW DELHI: At least two passengers in the fatal Air India Express flight crash have tested positive for COVID-19. Following this, the CISF has directed its personnel to go into preventive quarantine.

Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel told the media that one of the two was 45-year-old Sudheer Varyath, who died in the accident. His sample was sent for testing and it has returned positive.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has said it was the "first responder" to rescue passengers on Friday as its Assistant Sub Inspector Ajit Singh was on runway patrol when the Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 people onboard overshot the table top runway, fell into a 35- foot valley and broke into two at Karipur International Airport in Kozhikode.

At least 18 passengers, including the two pilots of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, were killed in the incident.

Around 50 CISF personnel, who were involved in the rescue operation, and their family members have been asked to quarantine themselves, he said.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday announced an interim relief of Rs 10 lakh for the kin of each of the deceased, Rs 2 lakh for the seriously injured and Rs 50,000 for those who sustained minor injuries. Additionally, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also announced a relief of Rs 10 lakh for the deceased.

While Hardeep Puri visited the spot in the afternoon, Kerala Chief Minister and state Health Minister KK Shailaja visited the plane crash site in Kozhikode later in the day.

The black box of the ill-fated Air India Express plane that crashed has been recovered and will be taken to Delhi for further investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, said an official of aviation regulator DGCA on Saturday. The digital flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder jointly make up the "black box" in an aircraft.