Ahmedabad plane crash: Miracle survivor says saw people dying in front of his eyes on Air India plane

AHMEDABAD: Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India flight which crashed into a hostel building in Ahmedabad, said on Friday he managed to come out alive because the part of the plane where he was seated was close to the ground unlike other passengers and crew.

Talking to reporters a day after the air disaster, Ramesh, originally a native of coastal town of Diu adjoining Gujarat, said his seat, 11A, was close to an emergency door on the left side of the ill-fated plane, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

"Luckily, the portion of the plane where I was seated fell on the ground floor of the hostel premises after the plane crash landed. When I saw that the door of the plane was broken, I told myself 'I can try and get out'. Eventually, I came out of the plane" Ramesh, a British citizen, maintained.

He is currently being treated at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi met him in the morning during his visit to the city.

"I believe that others could not escape because there was a wall on that side (of the hostel) while there was a small gap where I was sitting. I still can't believe how I survived the crash because I saw people dying in front of my eyes," he said.

A resident of Leicester, a city approximately 140 km north-northwest of London, Ramesh escaped with injuries for which he is undergoing treatment.

"Though I managed to escape, my left hand got burnt as the plane caught fire after the crash. I walked out of the aircraft and then an ambulance brought me to hospital. I am getting proper treatment here," he said.

In a viral video shot by a local resident immediately after the crash, Ramesh can be seen walking towards the ambulance after getting hurt in the crash.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner (AI 171), with 242 people on board, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, crashed into a medical college complex in Meghaninagar moments after taking off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday afternoon.

Ramesh survived the tragedy, while 241 others on board, including 168 Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and one Canadian, perished in the crash. Police have confirmed that at least 265 people, including those on the ground, were killed in the tragedy.

Four MBBS students and a doctor's wife were among those killed at the complex of BJ Medical College located outside the airport perimeter, where the aircraft smashed into a building soon after take-off.