A British passenger who survived the fatal Air India crash said the trouble unfolded 30 seconds into the flight.
The passenger also revealed that his brother was on the flight and asked for help to find him.
Fatal 30 seconds
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British citizen, was admitted to the Civil Hospital, Asarwa, in Ahmedabad.
Ramesh said that there was a loud noise 30 seconds after takeoff, and the plane crashed.
“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly,” Ramesh told Hindustan Times.
Ramesh has been living in London for 20 years. He said that he was visiting his family in India.
Ramesh reportedly had “impact injuries” on his chest, eyes, and feet.
He added that when he got up, there were bodies and pieces of the airplane lying around him.
“I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital,” Ramesh said.
The passenger added that his brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh, was also on the flight.
According to Vishwash Ramesh, Ajay was seated in a different row in the plane, and he couldn’t find him when he got up.
He asked for help to find his brother.
More people are searching for their kin in the hospital.
More than 200 dead
Officials recovered 204 bodies from the crash site, said a Bloomberg report. Officials haven’t clarified how many were passengers or residents, but added that the death toll might rise as the plane crashed near a residential area.
Ahmedabad Police Commissioner G.S. Malik said 41 people injured are being treated, and this includes the people from the residential area.
Indian Union Minister Amit Shah told reporters that there is one survivor. The minister added that the official count will be made after DNA verification.
The Air India flight, which was headed for London, had 242 people on board.
The Air India flight was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and this is the first instance of the model’s crash.
The aircraft, carrying 242 people, went down just minutes after departing from runway 23 at 1:39 pm, according to details released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Authorities are continuing rescue and identification efforts at the crash site, which is located in the Meghaninagar area near the airport, where the aircraft struck the residential quarters of BJ Medical College doctors.
The Sardhar Vallabhai Patel International Airport at Ahmedabad suspended all flights after the crash.
Air India also issued a hotline to assist the families of the people who were on the flight.
The Gatwick Airport, the destination where the flight was headed, also opened an emergency assistance centre for the people affected by the crash.
US President Donald Trump offered condolences after the accident and said he offered assistance to the Indian officials.
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