Lone passenger survives Air India crash: 'I don't know how I'm alive'
The lone passenger to survive the Air India crash that killed at least 240 people Thursday found himself near debris after being thrown out of the plane and walked to a nearby ambulance for aid, a medic said.
A doctor at Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital identified the man as Vishwashkumar Ramesh, and Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said he met the survivor.
"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."
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds including Air India crash, ferry still out of action, and ignoring TikTok KiwiSaver hacks. (Source: 1News)
Another medic said Ramesh told him that immediately after the plane took off, it began descending and suddenly split in two, throwing him out before a loud explosion.
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Video broadcast by Indian news channels appeared to show a bloodied Ramesh walking away from the crash site and people running behind him.
Ramesh, who had his boarding pass with him in the hospital, told local newspaper Hindustan Times that he saw bodies and parts of the plane strewn around the crash site.
"When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran," he told the newspaper.
An infographic showing the Air India crash in Ahmedabad (Source: Getty)
Ramesh was travelling to London with his brother and called relatives in Leicester after the crash, his cousin, Ajay Valgi, told the BBC.
The BBC's Yogita Limaye reports from the scene of the Air India tragedy in Ahmedabad. (Source: Breakfast)
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"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".
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.
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RNZ News
10 hours ago
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By By Erin Smith of Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was the sole survivor of the Air India flight 171 crash. Photo: Narendra Modi / YouTube / AFP Viswashkumar Ramesh, a British citizen returning from a trip to India, has been confirmed as the only survivor of Thursday's deadly Air India crash. "I don't know how I am alive," Ramesh told family, according to brother Nayan, in a video call moments after emerging from the wreckage. Another brother, Ajay, seated elsewhere on the plane, was killed. Given the horror of the Air India plane crash, the story of British national Vishwashkumar Ramesh from Leicester, sitting in seat 11a, being sole survivor & walking away with just a few scratches, is truly astonishing. Truly a miracle. #planecrash #PlaneCrashIndia The Boeing 787-7 Dreamliner crashed into a medical college less than a minute after taking off in the city of Ahmedabad, killing the other 229 passengers and 12 crew. At least five people were killed on the ground. 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