a day ago
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 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 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 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.
