The sole survivor of a passenger plane crash in Ahmedabad, India, stated he’s struggling to explain how he miraculously escaped the fireball explosion that killed 242 people on board and at least 24 on the ground.
Speaking from his hospital bed on Friday, British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh told DD News in Hindi, “Everything happened in front of me, and even I couldn’t believe how I managed to come out alive from that.”
The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, fully fueled for a long-haul flight to London, exploded into an orange flame on Thursday afternoon shortly after takeoff.
Ramesh, reportedly in seat 11A, was the only person aboard the plane to survive. His brother was also on the flight, according to family members in Britain.
Ramesh, 40, from Leicester, UK, described the moments before the crash: “Within a minute after takeoff, suddenly… it felt like something got stuck… I realized something had happened, and then suddenly the plane’s green and white lights turned on.”
He continued, “After that, the plane seemed to speed up, heading straight towards what turned out to be a hostel of a hospital. Everything was visible in front of my eyes when the crash happened.”
Footage on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s YouTube channel showed him visiting Ramesh in the hospital on Friday, where he’s being treated for burns and other injuries.
Ramesh vividly recalled his survival: “Initially, I too thought that I was about to die, but then I opened my eyes and realized that I was still alive.”
Emotionally, he added, “I saw the air hostess and aunties and uncles all in front of me,” using a respectful Indian term for elders.
“I unfastened my seatbelt and tried to escape, and I did.” He believes his side of the plane didn’t directly face the hostel, and he found a space to slip out when his door broke.
Videos circulated on social media show a bloodied, limping Ramesh walking toward an ambulance shortly after the crash. “My left hand got slightly burnt due to the fire, but an ambulance brought me to the hospital. The people here are taking good care of me,” he said.
Air India reported that the London-bound flight to Gatwick Airport had 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese, a Canadian, and 12 crew members. Police currently confirm the death toll stands at 265. Authorities have initiated DNA testing to identify the scorched remains of both passengers and those killed on the ground.
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