Ahmedabad plane crash: Miracle survivor on seat 11A was sitting next to flight's emergency exit
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh has been admitted to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital in Asarwa with “impact injuries”
After an Air India flight carrying 242 people onboard crashed near the Ahmedabad airport Thursday, rescue operations begun to look for bodies and possible survivors in the tragedy.
Till now, only one person, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, is reported to have survived the deadly crash. Ramesh (40), who has been admitted to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital in Asarwa with “impact injuries”, recounted the events after the flight took off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The flight was travelling from Ahmedabad to the London Gatwick Airport.
Vishwash said that merely thirty seconds into take-off, the passengers heard a loud noise, following which the plane crashed. “It all happened so quickly,” he said.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was carrying 230 passengers, and 12 crew members. The plane, which took off from Runway 23 of the Ahmedabad airport crashed five minutes after takeoff, bursting into flames.
Providing details on the passengers aboard the flight, Air India said that there were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese and one Canadian on the plane.
Miracle survivor was seated next to flight's emergency exit
Vishwash, who is a British national, was seated on seat 11A, which is a window seat. According to the alignment displayed by seatguru.com for the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, row 11 is the emergency row, with seat 11A being right next to the emergency exit.
Speaking about the aftermath of the crash, Vishwash said, “When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared.” He said that there were pieces of the aircraft around him, adding that he stood up and ran. Vishwash said that someone had then “grabbed” him and put him in an ambulance.
Vishwash, who had come to India to visit his family, was travelling back to the United Kingdom with his brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh. Vishwash has been a resident of London for 20 years, with his wife and children residing in there.
