Survivor of Air India crash jumped out of emergency exit, police say
NEW DELHI: Ramesh Viswashkumar, the only known survivor out of the 242 people onboard an Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday (Jun 12), had been sitting near an emergency exit of the London-bound flight and managed to jump out, police said.
A doctor at Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital identified the man, and Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said he met the survivor. The airline said he was a British national of Indian origin.
'He was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body,' Dr Dhaval Gameti, who treated Vishwashkumar, told The Associated Press. 'But he seems to be out of danger.'
Speaking from his hospital bed, the 40-year-old told Indian media that he was a British national and was travelling to Britain with his brother after visiting family in India.
"When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital," Viswashkumar told the Hindustan Times.
It was not clear whether Viswashkumar managed to jump out before the plane made impact.
Another medic said Vishwashkumar told him that immediately after the plane took off, it began descending and suddenly split in two, throwing him out before a loud explosion.
Social media footage shown on Indian news channels showed a man in a bloodstained white t-shirt and dark pants limping on a street and being helped by a medic. The man had bruises on his face and a goatee beard, resembling photographs of Viswashkumar in hospital after the crash that were published by local media.
Reuters could not immediately verify the video, in which people gathered around the man and asked him where were the other passengers, to which he replied "they're all inside".
A photo of Viswashkumar's boarding pass shown online by the Hindustan Times showed that he was seated in seat 11A of the plane bound for Gatwick Airport.
He told the paper his brother Ajay had been seated in a different row on the plane and asked for help to find him.
"He was near the emergency exit and managed to escape by jumping out the emergency door," said Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior police officer in Ahmedabad, speaking about Viswashkumar.
A member of Viswashkumar's family based in Britain, who requested anonymity, told Reuters over the phone that he had survived and that the family was in touch with him, but declined to share further details.
Ajay Valgi, a cousin of Viswashkumar who lives in Leicester, central England, told the BBC that Viswashkumar spoke by phone to confirm he was all right. "He only said that he was fine, nothing else," Valgi said.
Valgi said the family had not heard anything about his brother. "We're not doing well. We're all upset," he said.
Viswashkumar is married with one child, a boy, he added.
Viswashkumar's younger brother Nayan Kumar Ramesh told Sky News that his brother called his father moments after the crash to say he had survived.
'He video called my dad as he crashed and said, 'Oh the plane's crashed. I don't know where my brother is. I don't see any other passengers. I don't know how I'm alive, how I exited the plane',' he told Sky.
The aircraft came down in a residential area, crashing into a medical college hostel outside the airport during lunch time, in the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.
More than 240 people were killed in the crash. The dead included some on the ground. Police said a previously shared death toll of 294 was wrong due to some double-counted body parts.
Police said Viswashkumar was the sole passenger known so far to have survived but added that rescue operations were still ongoing.
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CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
Commentary: Speculation about cause of Air India crash is rife - here's why it's a problem
QUEENSLAND: Not long after Air India flight AI171 crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday (Jun 12), killing more than 240 people, public speculation about the causes of the disaster was rife. Parts of the media seem to be encouraging this. For example, I was contacted by an international news organisation for an interview about the tragedy. While I agreed, I cautioned that I could only say 'it is too early to speculate'. They decided not to proceed with the interview. No reason was given, but perhaps it was my aversion to speculation. Of course, I want to know as much as anyone else what caused this disaster. But publicly speculating at such an early stage, when there is so little evidence available, is more than unhelpful. It is also harmful, as many examples throughout history have shown. LIKE AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION Aviation accident investigations start as soon as first responders have extinguished the fires and completed the search for survivors – the first and foremost driver when responding to such a disaster – and have declared the site safe. The identification of the victims will then commence, completed by a different agency, parallel to the accident investigation. State authorities aren't the only people involved. The aircraft manufacturer (in this case Boeing) will usually send representatives to assist the investigation, as can the home countries of victims. Investigators in the country where the accident occurred may also request assistance from countries with more experience in aviation accident investigation. An early step for investigators is finding the black boxes (flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorder) among the debris. These contain data about the flight itself, what the aircraft was doing, and what the pilots were saying. But a plane crash investigation involves much more than just finding the black box. An aviation accident investigation is akin to an archaeological excavation – methodical and painstaking. If the evidence is not collected and preserved for later analysis at the time, it will be irrevocably lost. In the case of Air India flight 171 the scene is further complicated by the crash location – a building. It will take time for the airplane wreckage, victims and personal belongings to be sorted from the building debris. This must occur before the search for answers can commence. Investigators will also gather witness statements and any video of the event. Their analysis will be further informed by company documentation, training and regulatory compliance information. Around 80 per cent of aviation accidents are due to 'human factors'. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, human factors are: what we know about human beings including their abilities, characteristics and limitations; the design of procedures and equipment people use; and the environment in which they function and the tasks they perform. It could take several years for the full forensic investigation into this disaster to run its full course. For example, the final report into the Sea World helicopter crash in Queensland, Australia, back in 2023, which claimed the lives of four people and injured nine others, was only released in April this year. A HISTORY OF SPECULATION – AND VILIFICATION There is a long history of undue and harmful public speculation about the possible causes of a plane crash. For example, since the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on March 8, 2014, speculation has swirled about whether chief pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah was responsible for the disaster and the deaths of the other 238 people on board. This has deeply upset his sister, Sakinab Shah. In 2016, she told CNN she feels her brother is a 'scapegoat' she must defend. Similarly, the pilots of the British Midlands accident near Kegworth in 1989, in which 47 people died, were also publicly vilified. The pilots, who survived the crash, were experienced but misidentified which engine had failed, and shut down the wrong one. They were widely criticised in the press for the error, tarnishing their reputations, losing their jobs, and no doubt causing more stress to their families. The investigation later revealed the pilots themselves had not received any simulator training as they transitioned to a newer variant of the aircraft they were flying. This shows how undue public speculation about an airline disaster can add to the distress of victims and their families. RESPECT THE PROCESS No doubt pilots and aviation experts are speculating in private right now about the causes of this particular disaster. Cafes, pubs and crew rooms will be rife with discussions and opinions. It is human nature to want to know what happened. But to speculate in public won't assist the investigative process. Nor will it help the families of the victims, or the first responders and investigators themselves, get through this horrible time. Investigators need to work without external pressures to ensure accurate findings. Respecting this process maintains integrity and supports the many people who are currently experiencing unimaginable grief.
Straits Times
11 hours ago
- Straits Times
Anxious families await dental identification of Air India crash victims
FILE PHOTO: Daksha Patni mourns for her relative Akash Patni, 14, who died when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft crashed during take-off from an airport, as she waits outside the post-mortem room at a hospital, in Ahmedabad, India, June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo Health workers shift the body of a victim, who died in the plane crash, to a cold storage at a hospital, in the aftermath of an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash during take-off from an airport, in Ahmedabad, India, June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi A family member of one of the victims who died when the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane bound for London's Gatwick Airport crashed during take-off from Ahmedabad reacts as he waits to give a DNA sample at a hospital in Ahmedabad, India June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi People wait for their turn to give DNA samples to identify the family members who died after the Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane bound for London's Gatwick Airport, crashed during take-off from Ahmedabad, at a hospital in Ahmedabad, India June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave Kalpeshbhai Patni, 28, mourns as he sits outside the postmortem room at a hospital, for his brother Akash Patni, 14, who died when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane crashed during take-off from an airport, in Ahmedabad, India, June 13, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi AHMEDABAD, India - Dozens of anxious family members sat outside an Indian hospital on Friday waiting to collect bodies of loved ones killed in the Air India plane crash, as doctors worked to gather dental samples from the deceased and run identification checks. In the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 242 people on board bound for London took off from Ahmedabad on Thursday but crashed within about 30 seconds, erupting into a massive fireball. Outside the B.J. Medical College in Ahmedabad, an elderly woman said four of her relatives including two children were onboard the flight, but declined to speak further to the media until the bodies were handed over. "Can you give us the dead bodies? If not then we will not give interviews. We are so tired now," she said in frustration. Other relatives sat patiently at the hospital where many have in recent hours given blood samples for DNA profiling at a dedicated centre for collection. At the hospital, Jaishankar Pillai, a forensic dentist, told reporters the doctors were in the autopsy room until 4:30 a.m. on Friday collecting dental samples, as "teeth can withstand the heat", and they hoped they could use them for identification. "We have recorded the dental records of 135 charred victims ... it's a very pathetic situation," said Pillai, adding he did not have data for how many bodies had been identified so far. Officials outside the autopsy room told Reuters at least seven bodies had been handed over to their relatives after identification checks. DNA TESTING The state administration said in a statement 219 relatives of crash victims had come forward for DNA testing and blood samples, while many others were being contacted. In the case of dental records, a person is not typically identified based on a relative's teeth, but through reference to the victim's prior dental charts, radiographs, mouth guards or other records. Pillai added that even a selfie photograph of the victim could help doctors match the gap between two teeth to run checks. Scenes of distress played out beside the autopsy room. Daksha Patni was mourning the loss of her nephew, 14-year-old Akash Patni, and wailing as she waited for his body. Akash had been near his family-run tea stall and was killed on the ground by the impact of the plane hitting a building. "Hospital people aren't giving any good response. They are just saying 'come after 72 hours'. We are poor - that's why we are not allowed inside," Daksha told Reuters. The cause of the crash, the first for a Boeing Dreamliner wide-body airliner, has not yet been determined and India's aviation minister said a formal investigation had begun. A family member of another victim, 81-year-old Abdur Razzaq Chitthi Wala, told IANS news agency he was not being allowed to verify the body. "I received a video showing his body, it's burnt, but the face is clearly visible. All I'm asking is to let me verify the body," said the relative, who did not share his name during the interview. "They are saying give your blood sample, and you will get a call." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
12 hours ago
- Straits Times
‘My mind is just not ready to accept it': Families of Air India crash victims grapple with loss, grief and shock
Ms Payel Thakor's mother, who works as a cook at the hostel mess the plane had rammed into, and two-year-old niece have been missing since the crash. ST PHOTOS: DEBARSHI DASGUPTA 'My mind is just not ready to accept it': Families of Air India crash victims grapple with loss, grief and shock Follow our live coverage here. – An agonising wait for family members of passengers aboard the ill-fated Air India flight AI171 continues to unfold on the sprawling campus of the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, a day after the plane headed for London crashed in this western Indian city. All but one of the 242 passengers and crew on board were killed, with an additional unconfirmed number of fatalities feared on the ground. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had rammed into a hostel mess for doctors studying and working at the city's Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College and Civil Hospital. Family and relatives have been trickling in from various parts of Gujarat, as well as outside the state, to submit their DNA samples, to help identify bodies. It is a process that officials expect could take anywhere up to 72 hours. A large examination hall with wooden benches at the medical college serves as the round-the-clock impromptu DNA collection centre. Among those there early on Friday morning at 3am was Mr Imtiyaz Ali Syed, 42, who had driven nearly nine hours from Mumbai. He hit the road right after he learnt of the crash, as the airport at Ahmedabad was shut for around two hours after the tragedy. His brother Javed Ali Syed, his wife and their two young children – all British nationals – were flying home after spending Eid with their ageing mother, who has not been told about the tragedy because of her fragile heart condition. 'Even my mind is just not ready to accept it,' he told The Straits Times. 'But I have to accept it today or tomorrow or the day after. We have to accept it,' he added. He appeared composed in media interviews before breaking down outside in the arms of friends who had accompanied him. Others just could not hold back their tears when speaking to the media. Family and relatives have been trickling in to submit their DNA samples at Ahmedabad's Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College and Civil Hospital. ST PHOTO: DEBARSHI DASGUPTA Ms Payel Thakor, in her 20s, spoke in fits and starts while crying inconsolably. Her mother, who works as a cook at the hostel mess, and her two-year-old niece Aadya Thakor, have been missing since yesterday. 'We have gone mad looking for them everywhere,' she said. 'There's not a corner left in the Civil Hospital where we haven't looked.' She had been out delivering food for the doctors during their lunch break when the crash occurred, and initially mistook the loud noise for an explosion in the mess, which had a large stock of cooking gas cylinders. 'Eveything was smashed. They just did not let us in despite us pleading to let us go and see our mother,' she told ST. Her 31-year-old brother Ravi Prahladji Thakor, who also broke down while speaking, added they are still hoping his 50-year-old mother and young daughter are alive. 'But we have not got any information yet.' Mr Munir Ahmed Chitthiwala, however, who was waiting outside the post-mortem room at the Civil Hospital, had accepted the painful loss of his elder brother Abdur Razak Chitthiwala, 81, who was on board AI171. A retired Urdu teacher and headmaster of a government school, his brother was on his way to London to meet his son. Instead of hearing of a happy reunion, the younger Mr Chitthiwala was waiting to receive his elder brother's body. 'Everything else is secondary,' the 66-year-old told ST. Mr Munir Ahmed Chitthiwala waiting outside the post-mortem room at the Civil Hospital. He had accepted the painful loss of his elder brother. ST PHOTO: DEBARSHI DASGUPTA Also enduring a wait was Mr Rizwan Vohra, 34, whose aunt, younger brother and five-year-old niece were on board the flight. They had bid each other farewell on a video call shortly before take-off. 'They were complaining about the air conditioning system and the flight attendant call buttons not working but they were told everything would be fine after take off,' he said. He had dropped them off at the airport and was on his way home in Vadodara, a city in Gujarat around 110km away, when a call from a relative telling him about the crash forced him to turn around. 'We are just hoping we get the bodies now as soon as possible, with the mercy of God and the kindness of the Indian government,' said Mr Vohra, who had been at the hospital for the past 24 hours. He was upset that so many police officials had been deployed to ensure security for visiting politicians, when they, he added, could have been instead asked to speed up the process of identifying victims of the crash. Officials and volunteers, including 300-odd members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu right-wing socio-political organisation, have been working tirelessly to deal with the tragedy as efficiently and humanely as possible. Among the volunteers was Ronit Singh, 32, a resident living nearby. He said it had been 'very difficult' to deal with the tragedy. 'Bodies kept coming in, in ambulances. Some had no hands, others had no legs,' added Mr Singh. 'We were lifting the bodies from the ambulance and putting them on stretchers and covering them with sheets to avoid them being exposed.' Outside, the all-too-familiar but now eerie sound of aircraft flying overhead shortly after taking off from the nearby airport interrupted conversations, as heads turned upwards to look at the planes. On the ground, snatches of multiple languages – Bengali, Malayalam, English and German, among others – emerged from the buzz as media crews from India and across the world converged at the hospital to report on the aftermath of one of India's worst air tragedies. Less than a kilometre from the hospital, is the site of the doctors' residential building. An air of devastation hung over the busy area on June 13, the day after Air India Flight AI171 crash-landed on the hostel mess. The crash site was barricaded for protection ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit on June 13, as well as to protect the authenticity of the site for investigations. Among those waiting to get into the crash site that morning were volunteers with portable pet carriers from Darshna Animal Welfare (DAW), a local organisation, who hoped to rescue animals injured in the tragedy. They reported at least 11 dead dogs at the site the day before, when they saved three others and five scarred birds. 'We should care for them (animals) as well. Saving them is also our responsibility,' says Mr Akash Chavda, 32, DAW's founder. Debarshi Dasgupta is The Straits Times' India correspondent covering the country and other parts of South Asia. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
