Air India Shares Details on Sole Survivor of Plane Crash
Originally appeared on E! Online
Air India has confirmed some tragic news.
The airline, whose London-bound flight AI171 carrying 242 people crashed in the Indian city of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff on June 12, confirmed that only one passenger on board survived the accident.
'We regret to inform that, of the 242 aboard, there are 241 confirmed fatalities,' the company said in a statement shared to X (formerly Twitter) June 12. 'The sole survivor is being treated in a hospital.'
Air India also confirmed that the survivor is a British national of Indian origin, while the deceased passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 52 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national. The 12 crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft also perished.
'Air India offers its deepest condolences to the families of the deceased,' the statement continued. 'Our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of all those affected, their families and loved ones.'
The sole survivor was identified by local media as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. (NBC News also confirmed that Vishwash's name and seat number matched the flight's manifest.)
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Immediately following the crash, Vishwash expressed his fear of losing his brother who was also on board.
"I don't know where my brother is,' Vishwash told his other brother Nayan Kumar Ramesh, per NBC News' sister network Sky News. 'I don't see any other passengers. I don't know how I'm alive, how I exited the plane."
Nayan told the outlet, "This is a miracle that he survived. But what about the other miracle for my other brother?"
Following the plane crash, India's prime minister Narendra Modi shared his thoughts on the disaster.
'The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us,' he shared in a statement to X. 'It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it.'
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
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