The plane crash in India, which killed 241 people, has one survivor. His name is Vishwash Kumar Ramesh and he was sitting in the first row of economy class.
After the Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed in a crowded area of the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, Ramesh, 40, managed to get off the plane. He was injured but alive. All 241 other passengers died, A2 reports.
A video that has gone viral on social media reportedly shows him, a man with light bleeding from his face, running quickly in a straight line near the crash site, surrounded by a crowd watching in disbelief.
A paramedic later told the AP that Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was pulled from the plane and then walked to a nearby ambulance for help. The doctor who treated Ramesh told the AP that the patient was disoriented and had multiple injuries all over his body. However, his life was not in danger.
The fate of Vishwash Kumar Ramesh has touched people around the world. Numerous media reports have attempted to reconstruct his seemingly unique survival. The fact that only one person survived the crash has also been widely commented on on social media, variously described as unreal, extraordinary, divine intervention and a miracle.
But what does the 40-year-old himself say?
"Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise," Ramesh declared.
“When the flight took off, within five to ten seconds, I felt like I was hanging in the air,” Ramesh continued. Suddenly, the lights on board the plane “started flickering — green and white — then the plane crashed into a building there. There were bodies all around me. I was scared. I jumped up and ran. There were pieces of the plane everywhere,” he continues.
The British newspaper The Guardian also cited the Indian newspaper article. It stated that the part of the plane carrying Ramesh apparently landed on the ground instead of hitting the roof of a building.
"When I saw the exit, I thought I could get out. I tried and I did it. Maybe the people on the other side of the plane didn't make it," the survivor was further quoted as saying.
According to the Guardian, he added to reporters: "I don't know how I survived. I saw people dying before my eyes. I got out of the rubble."
The lucky passenger was sitting in row 11, in the left window seat, the first row of economy class, directly behind an emergency exit. His paper ticket appears to have survived the accident; a photo of it is also circulating on social media. (A2 Televizion)