Originally appeared on E! Online
The lone survivor of the Air India plane crash has spoken out.
Hours after Vishwash Kumar Ramesh walked away from the London-bound flight AI171 that crashed down June 12 in the Indian city of Ahmedabad and killed all other members onboard, the British national shared his experience of the moments before the tragedy, when the plane had just departed the airport.
“Within 30 seconds, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed,” Vishwash told The Hindustan Times. “It all happened so quickly.”
The U.K. native, whose brother was also on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft, detailed his initial observations in the aftermath of the crash as well.
“There were bodies all around me, there were pieces of the plane all around me,” Vishwash told local Indian news outlet News18. “Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance.”
According to his surviving brother Nayan Kumar Ramesh, per Sky News, Vishwash also said immediately after the crash, “I don’t know where my brother is. I don’t see any other passengers. I don’t know how I’m alive, how I exited the plane.”
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Of his own perspective, Nayan added, “This is a miracle that he survived. But what about the other miracle for my other brother?”
Following the accident, Air India confirmed that the perished passengers included 169 Indian nationals, 52 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national, as well as the 12 crew members on board.
Hanif Sindh/UP/Shutterstock
“Air India offers its deepest condolences to the families of the deceased,” the company said in a statement shared to X (formerly Twitter) June 12. “Our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of all those affected, their families and loved ones.”
Because the flight crashed into a building where medical students were sitting down for lunch, officials believe the death toll of the crash could ultimately include more than those aboard the aircraft, per NBC News.
In response to the tragedy, King Charles III shared his condolences, noting that he and Queen Camilla are “desperately shocked by the terrible events” in India.
“Our special prayers and deepest possible sympathy are with the families and friends of all those affected by this appallingly tragic incident across so many nations, as they await news of their loved ones,” the royal shared in a statement on X. “I would like to pay a particular tribute to the heroic efforts of the emergency services and all those providing help and support at this most heartbreaking and traumatic time.”
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
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