Brothers seated across the aisle — only one walks out alive from Air India 171 crash
Live Events
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
Seat 11A became a lifeline for Viswashkumar Ramesh . Just across the aisle in 11J sat his brother, Ajaykumar Ramesh. Within 30 seconds of takeoff, fate tore the two apart, reported TOI.On Thursday afternoon, AI Flight 171 — bound for London — crashed moments after departing Ahmedabad. Viswashkumar, a British citizen, stumbled out of the burning wreckage. He is the only confirmed survivor. He now lies in bed 11 of ward B7 at Ahmedabad civil hospital . His brother Ajaykumar is feared to be among the 265 who lost their lives.'There was a loud noise,' Viswashkumar told his cousin Dhirendra Somabhai from his hospital bed. 'The plane hung mid-air. Then came the pilot's voice: 'Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!''Dhirendra told TOI Viswashkumar remembers only jumping through a door. 'Nothing more.'Video footage shows him staggering through debris, bloodied and in shock, crying out: 'Plane fatyo che! Plane fatyo che!' (The plane exploded). Locals and rescue workers rushed to pull him into an ambulance. At the hospital, he wept and kept repeating: 'Where is my brother? Leave me alone. I don't want to talk. Can anyone tell me where he is?'Officials sealed off his ward around 2:30 pm after confirming his identity. Gujarat ATS and Ahmedabad crime branch officers have since restricted access.The brothers had lived in London for 15 years, jointly running a garment business in the UK and a fishing venture in Diu . They were among 15 residents from Diu's Bucharwada and Vanakbara villages on the flight.Family friend Ayub Mansuri, who dropped them at the airport Thursday morning, said Viswashkumar's father in London was the first to call him with the news. 'I managed to speak to Viswash three times after the crash, but then his phone died,' he told the news outlet. 'I hired an auto and made my way past roadblocks to reach the hospital. He had head injuries and bruises.'Dhirendra recalled a brief conversation the night before. 'We were all in Patelwadi. Viswash looked at me and said, 'I don't know when we'll meet next.''Diu additional district magistrate Vivek Kumar confirmed that all 15 passengers from the region have been identified. 'Only one survived. A team from the Diu administration has left for Ahmedabad,' he told TOI.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
25 minutes ago
- Mint
Dead bodies, mangled luggage, debris haunt rescuers at Air India crash site
(Bloomberg) -- Students of the B.J. Medical College were having lunch in their hostel dining hall on Thursday when a Boeing 787 jet loaded with fuel smashed into the building and exploded. Flight AI171 had taken off just minutes earlier from a nearby airport in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, before making a perilous descent that ended in the death of all but one of the 242 people aboard. The number of casualties among those on the ground and the building the plane slammed into is less clear. Those that rushed to the site in the wake of the crash were met with haunting visuals: a charred plane wing lay strewn across a road. Fragments of another wing and engine parts were nearby, along with clothes and mangled bags. A pungent smell of burnt debris lingered in the air. 'The blast was so intense that no one could approach the site initially,' said Rajesh Patel, a 56-year-old real estate businessman. He was heading home for lunch on Thursday afternoon, but instead spent the next seven hours helping pull out bodies from the wreckage along with rescue workers. 'The scene was horrific, with bodies scattered everywhere.' About 150 to 200 people, including students and workers, were inside the medical college hostel building when disaster struck, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported. 'We collected the remains in bags and clothing, and later used sarees and sacks,' Patel said. 'The rescue operation continued until 9 p.m., during which I personally collected around 50 bodies.' The official death toll will be announced only after DNA verification, according to Amit Shah, India's federal home minister. Investigators are combing the wreckage to determine what caused the Boeing Co. Dreamliner to crash. One of the two black boxes from the plane have been found, India's Aviation Ministry said Friday. The last communication from flight captain Sumeet Sabharwal to air traffic control was 'Mayday…no thrust, losing power, unable to lift,' the UK's Telegraph newspaper reported. The flight was carrying 12 crew and 230 passengers, most of whom were Indian and British nationals. Azaz Vohra, 29, has been waiting outside the local hospital since Thursday evening to collect the bodies of his cousin and two other relatives, including a child. 'We had dropped Yasmin Vohra, my aunt, cousin Parvez Vohra, and his four-year-old daughter Zuveria Vohra at the airport on Thursday,' Vohra said. Vohra's cousin had visited India for dental treatment, bringing along his younger daughter while his wife and elder daughter stayed behind in the UK, he said. 'We haven't received any updates from the hospital authorities,' Vohra said, showing photos of his relatives on his phone. Ahmedabad is the biggest city in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat. The country's premier business school is also located there. Modi visited the crash site on Friday and met the lone survivor from the Air India flight. 'Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise,' Ramesh Vishwaskumar, who sat in the first row of economy class, told local reporters, according to the Hindustan Times newspaper. He walked out unassisted from the burning plane. 'There were dead bodies around me. I got scared. I got up and ran. There were pieces of the plane everywhere,' he said. Media outlets identified him as a UK citizen aged 40, from the city of Leicester. Dead bodies were being released in batches on Friday from the hospital's post-mortem room. Medical students were overcome with emotion as they received the bodies of friends who had lost their lives. At the crash site, surrounded by burnt debris and scattered aircraft parts, a woman who identified herself as Babhiben was sitting in anguish, mourning the loss of her grandson. The 14-year-old boy, Akash, was neither a passenger nor a resident at the hostel. He simply happened to be in the neighbourhood.
India.com
43 minutes ago
- India.com
Amitabh Bachchan Mourns Air India Crash Victims, Expresses ‘Immense Remorse'
Mumbai: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has expressed his grief over the devastating Air India Dreamliner incident, which killed 241 people on board. He said he is ' filled with remorse' and that may grief transform into solidarity in honouring lost lives. Big B took to his blog and wrote: 'Most pained and filled with immense remorse on the Air India crash… empathy and support for the lives lost of our people , and across all nations and communities… may grief transform into solidarity in honouring lost lives…' 'Through transparent investigation, let there be sustained remembrance .. and resilience .. for meaningful action and prompt lessons .. and for the healing of all,' he added. An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff on June 12 afternoon. The aircraft, operating as Flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, plunged into a residential complex near BJ Medical College, killing 241 people on board. The aircraft took off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1.38 p.m. (IST) on Thursday before losing control moments later and crashing into a densely populated area, igniting a massive blaze and triggering emergency response teams across the city. The ill-fated flight had 230 passengers, 10 cabin crew, and two pilots. According to officials, only one person, a British national of Indian origin seated in 11A, survived the crash and is currently undergoing treatment at a local hospital. He also talked about 'greif for him' as his dear friend lost her son. Without naming anyone, Big B wrote: 'and the morning today has been filled with another grief for me and the family .. A most dear friend lost her Son .. young energetic .. and so sudden .. the pain and the grief for our friend and us is unimaginable .. and so difficult to have the belief that it has occured.. all that one can do is PRAYER and to stand to give strength to the near and dear to bear the loss ..in deep grief and pain ..'
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
JoSAA counselling 2025 round 1 seat allotment list released at josaa.nic.in: Here's the deadline for accepting admission
Live Events JoSAA 2025 round 1 seat allotment: How to check result? Visit the official JoSAA website – Click on the link for 'View Seat Allotment Result – Round 1'. Login using your JEE Main application number and password. The allotted institute, course, and category details will appear on the screen. Download and print the seat allotment letter for future reference. JoSAA Round 1 seat allotment: Important dates Seat Acceptance Fee Payment & Document Upload: June 14 to June 18, 2025 (till 5 PM) June 14 to June 18, 2025 (till 5 PM) Respond to Queries (If Any) During Document Verification: By June 19, 2025 (till 5 PM Freeze: Accept the seat and stop participating in further round Float: Accept the seat but continue to be considered for higher preferences Slide: Accept the seat but allow a switch to a higher-preference course in the same institute What if you are not satisfied with the result? (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) on Saturday released the Round 1 seat allotment result for JoSAA Counselling 2025 Students who applied for admission to IITs, NITs, IIITs, and other top engineering colleges can check the course and the college allotted to results are available on the official website, This is a major step for candidates who cleared the JEE Advanced or JEE Main examinations and had filled in their choices during the registration seat allotment is based on the rank, category, and with the result, JoSAA has also published the opening and closing ranks for different courses. Candidates must now pay the seat acceptance fee and upload documents by the given can follow these steps to check their allotment status:Candidates who have been allotted a seat in Round 1 must follow the instructions below:Candidates must make sure to complete all formalities within the deadlines to retain their a candidate is not satisfied with their current allotment, they can choose the 'Float' or 'Slide' option and wait for the next rounds. JoSAA will conduct six rounds of counselling in total. The Round 2 seat allotment will be announced on June 21, 2025
