Man says he's the sole survivor of the Air India plane crash

1 year ago 23

A senior Indian police official told the country's national news agency ANI on Thursday that one person — a man who was in seat 11A on the doomed Air India flight to London that crashed soon after takeoff in the city of Ahmedabad — survived the catastrophe.

Indian media outlets spoke with a man in a local hospital who said he was U.K. citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the person who had been listed in that seat on flight AI171, according to the flight manifest shared by Indian authorities.

Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik, who initially told ANI there were no known survivors from the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed into the city, was later quoted by the same news agency as saying "the police found one survivor in seat 11A." He said the person was "in the hospital and is under treatment."

"Yes, one survivor is confirmed," said Dhananjay Dwivedi, principal secretary of the Gujarat state health department, according to the French news agency AFP, without identifying the person.

Other Indian media aired reports speaking with a man whom they said had identified himself as Ramesh. They said he had a ticket for the ill-fated flight showing his name and the 11a seat assignment.

"Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly," the Hindustan Times quoted Ramesh as saying in the hospital. The newspaper said he reported suffering "impact injuries" to his chest, face and feet.

Video of the crash shows the plane flying low over buildings before dropping out of sight, followed by a massive explosion that sends a giant fireball into the air.

Tucker Reals

Tucker Reals is CBSNews.com's foreign editor, based in the CBS News London bureau. He has worked for CBS News since 2006, prior to which he worked for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C., and London.

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