One of the survivors, Ramesh Vishwas Kumar, being treated at the hospital
A British man is the sole survivor of the crash of Air India flight 171, which went down moments after take-off in Ahmedabad, killing more than 260 people, in one of the world’s deadliest aviation disasters in years and India’s worst in almost two decades says a Nine news report.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London Gatwick Airport was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew when it plummeted into a residential area just seconds after leaving the runway. Among the dead are 11 children and passengers from India, Britain, Portugal, and Canada.
Among those killed were passengers on the flight, including some minors, local residents, and people who were inside the BJ Medical College and Hospital hostel when the plane crashed into it, a senior doctor at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, where a majority of the dead and injured people were taken, told CNN.
The doctor added that the death toll is likely to rise. according to news reports one passenger Ramesh Vishwas Kumar, a UK national, who was sitting next to emergency exit jumped out and survived the crash. The doctors are treating him in the hospital. Report also said another UK national also survived the crash and is being treated in the hospital. The Prime Minister of India visited the hospital where they are admitted. Mr. Kumar was, reportedly, visiting his family in Gujarat. After jumping out of the plane was pulled out by the rescuers but, some reports suggest that seeing bodies all around, he ran away from the site.
Air India said that 242 people were on board the plane, 169 of them Indian nationals and 53 British nationals.
Latest report says, at least 290 people are feared to have died after a plane bound for London crashed into a medical college hostel shortly after taking off from an airport in India’s western city of Ahmedabad.
Images from the scene showed thick black smoke rising up into the sky after the Air India plane crashed, with part of the aircraft pictured resting on top of a building.
Other images showed scorched trees and a fire-blackened building with first responders hosing down the area.
