Ahmedabad: One can call him God’s own child.
Videos and images suggested no one could possibly have survived as Air India flight AI-171 crashed within minutes of taking off from the Ahmedabad airport and was reduced to a ball of fire on landing on a medical hostel building in a residential area.
As it turns out, one of the 242 people – comprising 230 passengers and 12 crew — on board the ill-fated Dreamliner aircraft is alive!
Ramesh Viswashkumar, the miraculous survivor, reportedly managed to jump off the plane.
Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik told ANI that Ramesh was seated on seat 11A.
“The police found one survivor in seat 11A. One survivor has been found in the hospital and is under treatment,” Malik said, adding that the number of fatalities can’t be ascertained yet.
Till 7.30 pm, 204 people are believed to have been killed, according to hospital and airport authorities.
“The death toll may increase as the flight crashed in a residential area,” he said.
A video has gone viral, purportedly showing Ramesh walking out from the accident site. He is seen to have suffered injuries on his chest, eyes and feet, but relatively minor ones considering the magnitude of disaster.
Ramesh Viswashkumar, The sole survivor of the Air India crash escaped by jumping from the plane. He was on seat number 11A.#planecrash #Airindia #Ahmedabad #AhmedabadPlaneCrash #AhmedabadCrash #अहमदाबाद pic.twitter.com/q54KyAKVKW
— Amit Pandey (@amitpandaynews) June 12, 2025
Forty-year-old Vishwash, a British national, is currently being treated at Civil Hospital, Asarwa, in Ahmedabad.
After visiting family in India, he was reportedly returning to the UK along with his brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh, whose status remains unknown.
Vishwash recalled the terrifying moments just after takeoff.
“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,” he was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
