Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the 40-year-old British-Indian who miraculously survived the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, is still dazed and says he is not clear how he survived. This morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited him at the Ahmedabad hospital where he is admitted.
Ahmedabad Plane Crash Live Updates
“I don’t know how I came out of it alive,” he told Doordarshan shortly after.
“For a while, I thought I was about to die. But when I opened my eyes, I saw I was alive. And I opened my seat belt and got out of there. The airhostess and aunty uncle all died before my eyes,” he said.
Mr Kumar’s seat was 11A, right next to the emergency door, which apparently came off when the plane struck the hostel.
Asked if he landed on the hostel, he said, “No, I was closer to the ground, the ground floor, where there was space. So I came out from there. The building wall was on the opposite side and I do not think anyone was able to come out that way”.
The fire started moments later and it singed his arm. “In front of my eyes two airhostess…” he said, choking, relieving the horrific moments seared in his mind.
Asked how the crash came about, he said, “A minute after the take-off, it felt like the plane had got stuck. Then green and white lights came on. They (the pilots) tried to rise the plane but it went full speed and crashed into the building”.
Yesterday, 241 people — passengers and crew of the Air India Dreamliner — died as the plane, minutes after take off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, crashed into a hostel outside the perimeter of the airfield. The direct flight to London was carrying a massive amount of highly inflammable aviation fuel. The massive orange ball of fire burnt for hours and the spiral of sooty smoke was visible from miles away.
The crash claimed multiple victims at the hostel of the BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad also — at least five MBBS students, one PG resident doctor and the wife of a superspecialist doctor. More than 60 medical students were injured.
There was no official count of those killed even hours after the crash. Union minister Amit Shah has said that a figure would be arrived at once all the DNA matchings were done.
Of the 230 passengers in the flight, 169 were Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. The other 12 people on board were two pilots and 10 crew members.
PM Modi, who served as Gujarat Chief Minister for 12 years, has said he was “stunned” by the tragedy.
“It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it. Have been in touch with Ministers and authorities who are working to assist those affected,” he said on X on Thursday.
This morning, he visited the crash site and met the injured at the hospital.
