A British passenger on board the doomed Air India flight that crashed just seconds after take-off has miraculously walked away from the wreckage.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, was sat in seat 11a on the flight — which crashed into a doctor’s hostel in Ahmedabad, India — and suffered “impact injuries” on his chest, eyes and feet, he told local media.
He was in India for a few days to visit his family and was going back to the UK along with his brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh, who is feared to have tragically died in the crash.
Astonishing footage showed Vishwash walking away from the fireball horror with visible injuries to his face.
Speaking from his hospital bed, he told the Hindustan Times: “Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.
“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”
The Gatwick-bound flight – a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – crashed within minutes of take off and burst into flames. It was initially feared that all 242 people onboard had died.
But speaking to Indian news agency ANI, Malik says the survivor “has been in the hospital and is under treatment”.
The flight manifest shared earlier by authorities says the passenger in seat 11A was Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, and that he is British. Vishwash said his brother Ajay was seated in a different row on the plane and he had been unable to find him.
His relative Ajay Valgi told the BBC that Vishwash had called his family earlier to say he’s “fine”, but he doesn’t know the whereabouts of his brother. Their relatives have gathered at the family home in Leicester in support and mourning as they await more information.
The Dreamliner lost contact just seconds after take-off, data from flight tracking website Flightradar shows.
Its final alert was last logged less than a minute after it started its ascent. It had only reached 625ft at the time, officials believe.
Seconds before the crash, harrowing footage shows the plane flying low over a residential area with the pilots appearing to be in a desperate bid to keep the plane in the air.
Moments later it is seen disappearing behind buildings before a huge blast erupts in the distance. Thick plumes of black smoke can then be seen pouring into the skies.
It comes as UK officials were deployed to India to support the investigation into the Ahmedabad plane crash. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said: “The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch has formally offered its assistance to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, India.
“In addition, the UK AAIB will have expert status in the Indian safety investigation. This is in accordance with Icao annex 13 because UK citizens were on board the aircraft.
“We are deploying a multidisciplinary investigation team to India to support the Indian-led investigation. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this tragic accident.”
The King said he is “desperately shocked by the terrible events” of the Air India crash, and expressed his “deepest possible sympathy” to those who “await news of their loved ones”.
And Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the crash was “devastating”, while his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi said it was “heartbreaking beyond words”.
