The lone passenger to survive the Air India crash Thursday found himself near debris after being thrown out of the plane and walked to a nearby ambulance for aid, a medic said. The fiery crash enroute to London, killed at least 241 people, including one Canadian, and is one of India’s worst airline disasters in decades.
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 said. “But he seems to be out of danger.”
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. 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.
Ramesh was traveling to London with his brother and called relatives in Leicester after the crash, his cousin, Ajay Valgi, told the BBC.
“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.
It was not immediately clear what caused the disaster. A video of the crash shows the plane with its nose pointed upward, sinking toward the ground before slamming into a medical college.
“Most of the bodies have been charred beyond recognition,” said Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior police officer.
This is the first crash of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner since the widebody, twin-engine planes went into service in 2009, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. Indian conglomerate Tata Sons took over Air India in 2022, returning the debt-saddled carrier to private ownership after decades of government control.
Canadian victim
The Canadian citizen killed in crash was a dentist in Mississauga and mother of a 1-year-old. The family of Nirali Sureshkumar Patel said she was among the 240 passengers. Her husband, who declined to give his name, said that he was in the process of booking travel to India for himself and their baby.
“That was my wife,” he said. “I am not in a state to speak right now.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “devastated” to learn of the crash and was receiving regular updates on the situation, confirming one Canadian was on the flight.
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