Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, the only survivor of the Air India crash, reportedly jumped out through the emergency exit seconds before the 777 Bird impacted the ground. Amongst 242 aboard, he managed to survive.
A British man is the sole survivor of the London-bound Air India flight carrying 242 people that crashed shortly after takeoff in the north-west Indian city of Ahmedabad.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was in seat 11A of the flight, said the aircraft crashed almost immediately after takeoff. It is believed his brother was on the same flight.
“Thirty seconds after takeoff there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,” Ramesh told the Hindustan Times from a general ward in the civil hospital in Asarwa, Ahmedabad.
The 40-year old British national told the newspaper he was returning to the UK, where he has lived for 20 years, after visiting family in India. Another brother, speaking outside the family home in Leicester, in the East Midlands, said Ramesh had “no idea” how he escaped.
Nayan Kumar Ramesh, 27, added: “We were just shocked as soon as we heard it. I last spoke to him yesterday morning. We’re devastated, just devastated. He said, ‘I have no idea how I exited the plane’.”
A relative added: “He’s doing well I think. It’s a big shock. I don’t have many words to describe the incident.”
Initial reports suggested all passengers onboard had died, but local police confirmed they had found one survivor of the flight, which plummeted into a medical college on Thursday, with videos showing a huge explosion and thick smoke in the immediate aftermath.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which was carrying 53 British nationals among its more than 240 passengers, was engulfed in a huge fireball after crashing into the Meghani Nagar residential area minutes after taking off at 1.38pm local time (09:08 BST) on Thursday.
The Ahmedabad police commissioner, GS Malik, told the news agency ANI there was one survivor who was in seat 11A. The flight manifest shared by authorities said the passenger in that seat was Ramesh. Malik told ANI the survivor “has been in the hospital and is under treatment”.
