AHMEDABAD, INDIA – JUNE 12: The tail of the Air India flight that crashed shortly after takeoff protrudes from a medical school hostel on June 12, 2025 in Ahmedabad, India. An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner, flight AI-171, carrying 242 passengers and crew members en route from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed shortly after takeoff on June 12, 2025, after the pilot issued a mayday name to air visitors management. The plane crashed into the densely populated Meghani Nagar space close to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Worldwide Airport, leading to a large explosion and fireplace as a result of heavy gasoline load for the worldwide journey, with rescue operations ongoing. (Picture by Elke Scholiers/Getty Photographs)
An Air India flight crash that claimed over 240 lives had one exceptional sole survivor.
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Viswashkumar Ramesh, 40, was one of many 242 folks on board the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which crashed within the northwestern Indian metropolis of Ahmedabad about half a minute after takeoff on Thursday.
Whereas recovering in a hospital, Ramesh tried to piece collectively how he survived the tragedy.
“I am unable to consider myself how I got here out of it alive, as a result of for some time I believed I used to be going to die as nicely,” Ramesh advised Indian nationwide broadcaster DD Information. “However after I opened my eyes, I noticed that I used to be alive. So I attempted to open my seat belt, and I used to be in a position to get out.”
Ramesh was sitting in seat 11A, a window seat within the first exit row normal economic system, in keeping with a passenger listing launched by the airline. He stated his a part of the airplane landed “on the bottom flooring” of a medical school hostel, and he observed the emergency door was damaged by the affect.
“When my door broke, I noticed there was a little bit of house. So I attempted to get out and I used to be in a position to get out,” Ramesh stated.
After evacuating the airplane, Ramesh was captured by India media sporting a white T-shirt stained with blood and grime. The 40-year-old was seen limping towards an ambulance, having suffered a facial laceration and a left-hand harm, which he described as ‘burnt barely’ within the fireplace.
Dr. Dhaval Gameti, who cared for Ramesh on the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, advised the Related Press that he was “disoriented with a number of accidents throughout his physique,” nevertheless “appears to be out of hazard.”
Though Ramesh is lucky to be alive, his brother Ajay, who was seated throughout from him in 11j didn’t have the identical destiny, as he was among the many many who misplaced their lives.
“When he known as us he was simply extra apprehensive about my different brother, like ‘Discover Ajay, discover Ajay,'” Ramesh’s older brother Nayan advised the BBC. “That is all he cares about in the intervening time.”
Ramesh lives in London together with his spouse and baby and was returning to the U.Ok. together with his brother after visiting household when the crash occurred.
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