2 days ago
Air India plane crash: British passenger the only known survivor, cousin confirms
A British national is believed to be the only known survivor on board an Air India flight from India to Gatwick which crashed carrying 242 passengers.
Viswash Kumar Ramesh from Leicester survived the plane crash, his cousin Ravi Mahesh told ITV News.
But he says his other cousin - Viswash's brother - Ajay Kumar Ramesh is still unaccounted for.
Indian police initially said there did not appear to be any survivors from the London-bound flight that crashed minutes after taking off from the Indian city of Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The Hindustan Times said a 40-year-old British man was sat in seat 11A and survived the crash receiving "impact injuries" to his chest, eyes and feet.
He told the newspaper: 'Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.'
Flight AI 171 crashed with 230 passengers on board, of which 53 were Britons, 169 were Indian, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. There were a further ten cabin crew, the pilot and co-pilot.
Pictures of the area showed thick black smoke rising into the sky after the crash, with part of the aircraft seen resting on top of a building.
Tata Sons, which owns Air India, says it will offer around £86,000 to the families of each person who died in the crash.
