Kerala man who survived Emirates crash-landing wins lottery

A 62-year-old Indian, who was on board the Emirates plane that crash-landed in Dubai, might be the luckiest man alive as he has won a million dollars in lottery, just six days after miraculously surviving the accident.

When his phone rang on Tuesday, Ahmad Abdul Khadar’s first thoughts were, “Must be a relative calling to enquire about the accident.”

Mohammad Basheer Abdul Khadar, from Kerala, was among the 300 people on board the Emirates flight EK521 which crash landed and burst into flames at the Dubai airport. (Photo courtesy- gulfnews.com)

Khadar, 62, was among 300 passengers who escaped death by a whisker when his flight crashlanded at the Dubai airport last week.

It turned out to be arguably the most shocking, pleasantly that is, call he ever received — someone called from Dubai to inform that he has won $ 1 million (around Rs 6.5 crore) in a Dubai duty-free raffle.

“For the lucky escape I have been praying to Almighty all these days. After the precious first gift (of life) I got another one... The latest gift has emboldened me to do more good things for the rest of my life,” he said.

Khadar, who had a habit of buying lottery tickets on journeys back home, had purchased one at the Dubai airport while returning to Kerala on Eid last month.

Khadar is working in the middle-east since 1978 and is employed as a fleet manager with a car dealer in Dubai.

“My wife used to scold me for spending huge amount for raffles. I always consoled her, one day we will hit the jack port. I think this is my 17th lottery or so,” said Khadar.