Ahmedabad: One passenger from the doomed Air India flight survived with minor injuries in the tragedy that struck Ahmedabad city, Gujarat state, in western India. Indian police sources shared this information on Thursday.
According to Kuwait News Agency, security sources identified the survivor as Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, a British national. Tragically, the remaining 241 passengers and crew members, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, are feared dead.
Chief Secretary of the Gujarat Health and Family Welfare Department, Dhananjay Dwivedi, reported that around 50 residents in the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital students' hostel, staff quarters, and other residential areas sustained injuries as the plane crashed there. Both Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu and Home Minister Amit Shah refrained from announcing the number of casualties. "We are going to do a fair and thorough investigation and probe why this incident happened. We still have to find out the numbers," stated Ram Mohan Naidu. Amit Shah noted that the death count can only be confirmed following DNA tests of the families of those on board.
Air India's Flight 171, which was operating from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, crashed shortly after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad. The flight consisted of 169 Indians, 53 Britons, 7 Portuguese, and a Canadian, in addition to two pilots and 10 crew members.