A British man has walked away from the wreckage of the Air India crash that killed everyone else on board in an extraordinary tale of survival.
Vishwashkumar Ramesh was in seat 11A on the London-bound Boeing 787-8 flight when it crashed shortly after take off in Ahmedabad, western India.
Ramesh’s brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, told BBC News that Vishwashkumar “has no idea how he survived” and escaped the plane as the only survivor.
Smoke billowing
There were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian on the Gatwick Airport-bound flight, Air India said.
Video shared on social media showed Ramesh walking towards an ambulance, with smoke billowing in the background.
He was later seen in a hospital bed meeting Indian interior minister Amit Shah.
Indian media said Ramesh shared his boarding pass, which showed his name and seat number.
He has a wife and child. He was born in India, but has lived in the UK for many years.
In hospital
Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik confirmed to Indian news agency ANI that one man survived the crash.
He said: “The police found one survivor in seat 11A.
“One survivor has been found in the hospital and is under treatment.”
The commissioner told the BBC that 204 bodies had been recovered, while 41 people who were on the ground were being treated for injuries.
The plane crashed into accommodation used by doctors less than a minute after take-off.
At the time of publishing the cause of the crash is still unknown.
Air India flight AI171 left Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 13:39 local time.
It was scheduled to land at London Gatwick at 18:25 BST.
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