How the sole survivor made it out alive from deadly Ahmedabad plane crash

Ramesh Viswashkumar, a British national, is the only survivor among the 242 people on board the Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

"We regret to inform that out of the 242 people on board, 241 have been confirmed dead. The sole survivor is currently receiving treatment in hospital," Air India said in a post on X.

He was seated near an emergency exit and managed to jump out of the plane before it caught fire, police said, as quoted by Reuters.


Speaking to media from his hospital bed, the 40-year-old said he had come to India with his brother Ajay to visit family. They were returning to the UK on the London-bound flight when the crash occurred.

“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane everywhere. Someone helped me and put me in an ambulance,” Ramesh said.

A video circulating on social media showed Ramesh in a bloodstained white t-shirt limping on the street. He had bruises on his face and was being assisted by medics.

According to reports, Ramesh’s boarding pass showed he was seated in seat 11A, near the emergency exit. Police officer Vidhi Chaudhary confirmed that his position had helped him escape through the emergency door.

Ramesh’s cousin, Ajay Valgi, who lives in Leicester, told the BBC that he had spoken to Ramesh on the phone. “He only said he was fine, nothing else. We haven’t heard anything about his brother yet. The whole family is very upset,” he said. Ramesh is married and has a son.

The plane, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, crashed into a medical college hostel shortly after takeoff during lunch hour. It is now being described as one of the worst aviation disasters in the past ten years, with many dead, including people on the ground.

Inputs from Reuters