Ramesh Vishwaskumar Bucharvada, who was among the 242 people onboard on the ill-fated Air India flight AI171 that crashed today, miraculously survived the accident.
38-year-old Ramesh, a British national, was seated in seat 11A, located right behind an emergency exit, on the flight that crashed near the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday afternoon, killing more than 200 people.
A video taken moments after the crash shows an injured Ramesh walking towards an ambulance as bystanders surround him asking questions about the fate of the others on the plane.
“The plane exploded,” the man, speaking in Gujarati, is heard saying in the video. When the people around him ask him about the status of the other passengers, the man replies, “There are back there inside [at the crash site].”
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He is currently receiving medical treatment at a hospital.
A police official told Indian news agency ANI, “The police found one survivor in seat 11A. One survivor has been found in the hospital and is under treatment. Cannot say anything about the number of deaths yet. The death toll may increase as the flight crashed in a residential area.”
A surviving passenger, speaking to international media, said the aircraft made a loud noise about 30 seconds after takeoff. “It all happened very quickly,” he said.
The crash occurred shortly after the Boeing 787-8 aircraft took off from Ahmedabad for London. It carried 242 passengers and crew members and crashed into a medical college hostel in a residential part of the city.
Air India Crash Hits Hostel, Kills Medical Students and Residents
Rescue workers at the scene told Reuters they had recovered at least 30 bodies from the building. Many more people remained trapped under the debris.
Five MBBS doctors died while eating in the mess on the hostel’s top floor when the plane struck. Only one person has survived the crash so far.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) offered support to Indian authorities following the incident.
In a statement shared on X, the FAA said, “The FAA is in contact with the NTSB regarding Air India flight AI171, operating from Ahmedabad (AMD) to London Gatwick (LGW), that was involved in an accident in India on Thursday, June 12.”
Moreover, the agency also stated, “When an international incident occurs, that government leads the investigation. In the event assistance is requested, the NTSB is the official U.S. representative and the FAA provides technical support. We stand ready to launch a team immediately in coordination with the NTSB.”
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