The brother of the only known survivor of the Air India plane crash has shared how his brother made an important video call as the plane crashed shortly after the jet took off from Ahmedabad Airport
As the doomed Air India flight plummeted to the ground and burst into flames the only known survivor video called his dad, his sibling has revealed.
The plane bound for Gatwick Airport erupted into a fireball near Ahmedabad Airport in western India after crashing into a college in a residential area. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft was carrying 242 people. The airline said 241 of the 242 people died in the crash, with British passenger Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, the sole survivor.
The tragedy is one of the deadliest plane crashes in terms of the number of British nationals killed. Vishwash was on the flight with his brother Ajayk Kumar Ramesh, 35, when the plane crashed and exploded into a fireball. The brothers boarded the doomed flight after having been in India on a business trip concerning their family business.
Astonishing footage showed Viswash with visible injuries hobbling away from the scene of the crash. He reportedly sustained injuries to his chest, eyes and feet. Police said Viswash had ‘managed to escape by jumping out the emergency door’.
Brother Nayan Kumar Ramesh, 27, told MailOnline about Viswash’s movements before, during and after the crash – including a video call he made as the plane crashed. Nayan said his brother was in disbelief at how he got out alive, saying on the phone: “I have no idea how I survived or exited the plane. When he was on the runway, my dad called him. And Viswash said, “oh, we’re going to take off soon,” he said.
‘And then literally like two minutes later, he video called my dad as he crashed. He said, “our 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. All he was worried about on the phone was telling us “find Ajay, you must find Ajay”,” Nayanadded.
Speaking to local media from his hospital bed, Viswash said his brother had been sitting on a nearby row, adding: “I can’t find him anymore. Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,’ he added.
“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.”
A four-year-old girl feared dead in the India plane crash was a “ray of sunshine” who “lit up the classroom,” her teacher said. Sara Nanabawa is reported to have died with her parents Akeel and Hannaa Nanabawa when the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed.
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