What the lone survivor of the Air India crash told his family after emerging from the disaster
The lone survivor of the Air India plane crash in the city of Ahmedabad managed to talk to his loved ones after emerging from the wreckage.
Ramesh Viswashkumar, a British national who visited his family in India, was about to fly back to London when the plane crashed just after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport.
The New York Times reported that Nayan, Ramesh's brother, recalled him saying, "I don't know how I am alive."
Nayan said Ramesh spoke with their father via video call from next to the wreckage and said, “Our plane crashed. I have no idea how I got outside.”
"He was like: 'I can’t see my brother [Ajay]. I can’t see any other passengers,'" Nayan added, noting he was "just in shock." (Ramesh told Indian media that Ajay had been seated in a different row on the plane, and he asked for help to find Ajay.)
Ramesh was then rushed to the hospital. A doctor who examined him said he was “disoriented, with multiple injuries all over his body, but he seems to be out of danger."
Nayan told the Times that Ramesh was told "to be on bed rest, and they have switched off his phone." They spoke with him again later.
Speaking to Indian media from his hospital bed, Ramesh recalled seeing bodies all around him when he got up.
"I was scared. I stood up and ran," he's quoted as saying. "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."
Authorities said Ramesh had been sitting near the plane's emergency exit and managed to jump out. It wasn't clear whether he did before the plane made impact.
Ramesh is reportedly married and has a son.
A source told Reuters that the 242 passengers included 217 adults and 11 children. Of them, 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven were Portuguese, and one was Canadian. Two pilots and 10 cabin crew were also aboard.
Rescue personnel suggested that at least three dozen people had been killed on the ground, with the plane also hitting B.J. Medical College, whose campus is near the end of the runway of the airport.
Dean Minakshi Parikh said at least four medical students were among the dead. Dozens of others are being treated at the city's main hospital.
Authorities gave a provisional death toll of 269, though they noted that a final number will take time to confirm, as many of the bodies were badly burned. They're still being identified and counted through DNA testing.
New Delhi's government said it's setting up "a high-level committee comprising experts from multiple disciplines to examine the matter" and to "work to strengthen aviation safety and prevent such incidents in [the] future."
