Sole survivor walks away from crash that killed 246

A British national miraculously survived the Air India disaster in which a Boeing 787 crashed and exploded moments after taking off, killing at least 246 people.

- ALEX CROFT

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, suffered relatively minor injuries and jumped out of an emergency exit next to his seat after yesterday’s crash in the western city of Ahmedabad. His brother Ajay, who was also on the plane, is missing and presumed dead.

There were 242 passengers and crew on board flight AI171 to London Gatwick when it plunged into the accommodation block of a medical college. Fifty students were taken to hospital for treatment and five are missing, say officials.

Air India confirmed 241 people on board had died, saying it offered its deepest condolences to their families. “We are still verifying the number of dead, including those killed in the building where the plane crashed,” Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer said.

The cause of the disaster is not yet clear. The passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, a source told Reuters. Air India said 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. UK officials are being sent to India to support the investigation, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said.

Mr Ramesh, the sole passenger known to have survived, told local media: “Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.”

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“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,” he said.