he sole survivor of the Air India disaster has revealed how he ‘just walked out’ of the plane moments before it exploded into a fireball – as he admitted it is a ‘miracle’ that he has been left with only minor injuries.
British national Viswash Kumar Ramesh, 40, said that he was in India with his brother for the best part of a year and was returning to London, where his family live, on the Gatwick-bound aircraft on Thursday.
He was seated in 11A on the doomed flight from Ahmedabad, which is said to be one of the worst in India’s aviation history, having claimed the lives of 279 people so far.
Among the victims believed to be dead, which includes 53 British nationals, is the 40-year-old’s brother Ajay Kumar, 35, who was sat on the other side of the aisle in seat 11J perished in the fireball explosion.
Vishwash, who is being treated at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, just a short distance from where the plane crashed into buildings, has spoken of the moment he escaped from the burning plane.
While sitting up on a hospital bed, he told DD India that he was ‘feeling better than yesterday’ and that the ‘treatment is going good’.
Still in shock, he admitted he ‘can’t explain’ everything that he witnessed as the plane plummeted to the ground.
He managed to escape after his side of the plane fell onto the ground of a floor building, forcing his way out of the plane past a broken door, before being assisted by locals and taken to hospital in an ambulance.
While sitting up in his seat, he told DD India, that he was ‘feeling better than yesterday’ and that the ‘treatment is going good’
A video posted to social media appeared to show the plane descending in a controlled manner with a high nose angle and landing gear deployed
The plane momentarily disappeared from view behind trees and buildings before a massive fireball erupted on the horizon in this horrifying clip
‘The emergency door was broken, my seat is broken,’ he said.
Asked if he escaped the plane by jumping to the ground, he replied: ‘I am not jumping. I just walked out innit.’
‘It’s a miracle,’ he said when discussing his survival and injuries.
His doctor added: ‘He is having minor injuries only. He has some abrasions over his left forearm and swelling over left eyelid and over the eyes.
‘Chest and abdomen is clear, no lung fractures present. The patient is vitally stable.’
He added Vishwash had not complained of nausea, vomiting or any sort of fever.
It is now anticipated to be released in the next 48 hours, his relatives have said.
Jigar Chunilal, who has been at his bedside since he was filmed walking away from the crash site dazed and bloodied, said: ‘Not only is it a miracle that he survived but it’s also a miracle that he had no serious injuries. He’s still very shocked that he’s still alive and so are we.
‘The doctors have told us that he can go home within the next two days and that is incredible, but we are not sure when he will be leaving for the UK. He suffered some minor burns but no fractures, broken bones or any serious internal injuries.’
Mr Ramesh’s parents, Manibhai and Bava, wife Hiral and two brothers, Sunnykumar and Nayankumar are expected to arrive in Ahmedabad over the weekend to visit him after leaving the UK on Friday night.
Mr Chunilal added: ‘We don’t want to say too much because this is a very difficult time for us all. On one hand we are very happy that Viswashkumar survived but at the same time we are in mourning for Ajay.’
He added that as per Hindu custom, the family are keen to carry out Ajay’s funeral as quickly as possible and will not return to the UK until this is done.
Earlier today, UK investigators with experience in aircraft operations, engineering and recorded data, arrived in the south Asian country in the wake of the tragedy.
Terrifying CCTV footage showed the Boeing 787 Dreamliner careen to the ground shortly after take off in the densely populated Meghani area of the city at around 1.40pm local time (8.10am BST).
Detailing the moments after the crash, Viswash described seeing several passengers and crew lose their lives as parts of the plane were scattered around the site.
Still clutching his boarding pass at the hospital, he called his father in the aftermath of the tragedy. His brother Nyan told Sky News: ‘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’.’
Devastatingly, injured Viswash had been begging from his hospital bed: ‘Find Ajay, you must find Ajay.’
His cousin, Ajay Valgi, told the BBC, how Viswash has a wife and ‘little boy’ at home: adding: ‘He only said that he’s fine, nothing else. [We are] happy that he’s OK, but we’re still upset about the other brother.’
Previously said of his younger cousin’s, Ajay’s death, Mr Valgi: ‘I’m feeling absolutely upset. He’s not just my cousin, he’s also one of my best friends as well.
‘They were sitting next to each other, but we don’t know what happened to [Ajay Kumar]. We’re not doing well. We’re all upset.’
On Thursday, relatives gathered at the family’s terraced home in Leicester to comfort the brothers’ mother who is said to be too grief-stricken to speak.
‘It’s a miracle at least one of them survived,’ younger brother Nayan said.
‘He said his plane had crashed and he couldn’t find anyone, we couldn’t believe it. There was blood running down his face.
The tragedy’s death toll has since increased to 279 dead, according to a senior Indian police source, making it one of the deadliest plane disasters of the 21st century.
This is a further increase on an earlier figure of 265 victims, which includes those on the plane and ground.
Grieving families left frustrated for lack of support after air crash
