AP PHOTO: Air India plane's tail juts from a building
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — At first glance, the photo looks unreal: the tail of an airliner jutting out from an unremarkable building.
There are no people in the image — no rescuers, no police, none of the thousands gathered outside the cordon. But it captures the violence of the Air India crash: the ripped tail fins still clinging to the plane, the jagged cavity torn into the building's facade, the web of cracks spriraling outward.
The battered building in Ahmedabad, quiet in the stillness that follows the devastation, had served as the dining area for medical students. The London-bound plane that crashed was carrying more than 240 passengers — there was one survivor. The students were having lunch — at least five of them died, and 50 were injured.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
3 hours ago
- Global News
Air India's sole survivor recalls crash: ‘I saw people dying in front of my eyes'
The sole survivor of the Air India plane crash that killed more than 240 people spoke out on Friday, saying he couldn't believe he was alive as he recounted seeing others dying near him while he escaped through a broken emergency exit. The airline confirmed in a statement on X that there was a 'sole survivor' from the crash that took place on Thursday just after takeoff from Ahmedabad in India, headed for London's Gatwick airport. UPDATE: Air India confirms that flight AI171, operating from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick on 12 June 2025, was involved in an accident. The 12-year-old Boeing 787-8 aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew. The aircraft crashed shortly… — Air India (@airindia) June 12, 2025 Story continues below advertisement Viswash Kumar Ramesh, the survivor, was in seat 11A near the emergency exit, and he said he managed to squeeze through the broken hatch. He was filmed on Thursday limping on the street in a blood-stained shirt with bruises on his face. Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin, told Indian state broadcaster DD News that he doesn't 'believe how I survived' while speaking with the outlet from his hospital bed on Friday. 'For some time I thought I was also going to die,' Ramesh, 40, said. 'But when I opened my eyes, I realized I was alive and I tried to unbuckle myself from the seat and escape from where I could. 'I saw people dying in front of my eyes — the air hostesses, and two people I saw near me.… I walked out of the rubble.' 'When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran,' he told Hindustan Times. 'The side of the plane I was in landed on the ground, and I could see that there was space outside the aircraft, so when my door broke I tried to escape through it and I did,' Ramesh said. 'The opposite side of the aircraft was blocked by the building wall so nobody could have come out of there.' Story continues below advertisement He recalled the moments before the crash, saying that when the flight took off, 'within 5 to 10 seconds it felt like it was stuck in the air.' Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'Suddenly, the lights started flickering — green and white — then the plane rammed into some establishment that was there,' he said. Ramesh suffered burns and bruises and has been kept under observation at the hospital, an official at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad said. 'He was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body,' Dr. Dhaval Gameti, who treated Ramesh, told The Associated Press. 'But he seems to be out of danger.' An official added that 'his escape … and without any grievous injury, was nothing short of a miracle. He also realizes that and is a bit shaken by the trauma of it too.' View image in full screen Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah meeting British plane crash survivor Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, at a hospital in Ahmedabad after Air India confirmed he was the sole survivor of the 242 people on board the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Ministry of Home Affairs India via AP Ramesh said he was travelling with his brother Ajay, who was seated in a different row. They were visiting family in India and returning to the U.K. when the crash happened. Story continues below advertisement He called relatives in Leicester after the crash, his cousin, Ajay Valgi, told the BBC. He has a wife and 'little boy' at home. 'He only said that he's fine, nothing else,' Valgi said, adding that the family is 'happy that he's OK, but we're still upset about the other brother.' Another brother of Ramesh, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, told Sky News that Viswash 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 the outlet. Nayan said he was supposed to be picking his brothers up from Gatwick Airport on Thursday and the whole family planned to get together for a gathering this weekend. 'I've got no words to describe it,' he said. 'It's a miracle that he survived — but what about the other miracle for my other brother?' He said that his family is 'devastated,' adding, 'I'm scared to fly now — to even sit on a plane.' Story continues below advertisement After the crash, Air India shared a post on X, confirming 'the passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 7 Portuguese nationals and 1 Canadian national.' Air India confirms that flight AI171, from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, was involved in an accident today after take-off. The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft. Of these, 169 are… — Air India (@airindia) June 12, 2025 Air India CEO Campbell Wilson shared his 'deep sorrow about this event' in a video posted to X after the crash. 'We are actively working with the authorities on all of the emergency response efforts,' Wilson said. 'A special team of caregivers from Air India is on the way to Ahmedabad to provide additional support.' Message from Campbell Wilson, MD & CEO, Air India. — Air India (@airindia) June 12, 2025 Story continues below advertisement Police said some people at the dormitory of a nearby medical school and others on the ground were also killed in the plane crashed into the building. Rescue workers were searching for missing people and aircraft parts in the charred buildings of the hostel on Friday to help find the cause of the crash. Air India has said the investigation will take time. Planemaker Boeing has said a team of experts is ready to go to India to help in the probe. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in his home state of Gujarat to visit the crash site, met Ramesh in hospital on Friday. 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. Air India has not commented on what caused the crash. — With files from Reuters and The Associated Press
Vancouver Sun
3 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
A student is alive after missing doomed Air India flight by 10 minutes due to traffic
Bhoomi Chauhan was supposed to board an Air India flight that crashed shortly after take-off, but missed it by 10 minutes after she was delayed due to traffic, BBC reports. The 28-year-old was reportedly flying home to London, U.K., but was turned away by the airline staff for arriving less than an hour before departure. A business administration student, Chauhan lives in Bristol with her husband. 'We got very angry with our driver and left the airport in frustration,' she told BBC . 'We left the airport and stood at a place to drink tea and after a while, before leaving … we were talking to the travel agent about how to get a refund for the ticket. There, I got a call that the plane had gone down.' Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. She added: 'This is totally a miracle for me.' A dentist from Mississauga, Ont., wasn't so lucky. Nirali Sureshkumar Patel was on board the Air India plane that crashed on Thursday. 'That was my wife,' the husband told The Canadian Press. 'I am not in a state to speak right now.' The husband and their one-year-old child are reportedly in the process of travelling to India. Sureshkumar Patel was employed at The Heritage Dental Care and, according to her bio, chose dentistry as a profession because 'the feeling that my work has made a difference in someone's life brightens my day!' Described as a generous spirit, Sureshkumar Patel would 'once per year … offer free treatments to her patients' and often volunteered at a free dental camp. Only one person walked away from the crash alive . 'Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,' British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, told Hindustan Times from a hospital bed on Thursday. He was reportedly travelling with his brother, who is presumed to be dead. The plane was carrying more than 242 passengers, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals, the airline said in a statement . The plane crashed five minutes after take-off in a residential area in Ahmedabad, a city in India with a population estimated to be over five million people. It was bound for London Gatwick Airport. The tragedy 'is heartbreaking beyond words,' India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X Thursday. '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.' Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday he is receiving regular updates as this tragedy unfolds and that Canada's transportation officials are in close contact with their counterparts in India. 'My thoughts are with the loved ones of everyone on board,' he said on X . On social media, King Charles and Queen Camilla shared 'special prayers and deepest possible sympathy' with families and friends of those affected. 'I would like to pay a particular tribute to the heroic efforts of the emergency services and all those providing help and support at this most heartbreaking and traumatic time,' King Charles said in a statement. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Calgary Herald
3 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
A student is alive after missing doomed Air India flight by 10 minutes due to traffic
Bhoomi Chauhan was supposed to board an Air India flight that crashed shortly after take-off, but missed it by 10 minutes after she was delayed due to traffic, BBC reports. Article content The 28-year-old was reportedly flying home to London, U.K., but was turned away by the airline staff for arriving less than an hour before departure. A business administration student, Chauhan lives in Bristol with her husband. Article content Article content 'We got very angry with our driver and left the airport in frustration,' she told BBC. 'We left the airport and stood at a place to drink tea and after a while, before leaving … we were talking to the travel agent about how to get a refund for the ticket. There, I got a call that the plane had gone down.' Article content A dentist from Mississauga, Ont., wasn't so lucky. Nirali Sureshkumar Patel was on board the Air India plane that crashed on Thursday. 'That was my wife,' the husband told The Canadian Press. 'I am not in a state to speak right now.' The husband and their one-year-old child are reportedly in the process of travelling to India. Article content Sureshkumar Patel was employed at The Heritage Dental Care and, according to her bio, chose dentistry as a profession because 'the feeling that my work has made a difference in someone's life brightens my day!' Described as a generous spirit, Sureshkumar Patel would 'once per year … offer free treatments to her patients' and often volunteered at a free dental camp. Article content Article content Only one person walked away from the crash alive. 'Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,' British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, told Hindustan Times from a hospital bed on Thursday. He was reportedly travelling with his brother, who is presumed to be dead. Article content Article content The plane was carrying more than 242 passengers, including 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals, the airline said in a statement. The plane crashed five minutes after take-off in a residential area in Ahmedabad, a city in India with a population estimated to be over five million people. It was bound for London Gatwick Airport. Article content The tragedy 'is heartbreaking beyond words,' India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X Thursday. '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.'
