The 40-year-old is believed to be the only survivor of the crash
A British man who is believed to be the only survivor of Thursday’s Air India plane crash says he has “no idea” how he escaped the aircraft.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was one of 53 British passengers on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Air India flight 171 had just departed for Gatwick Airport from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad when it crashed into a medical college near the runway.
Images posted to social media show the 40-year-old, who has lived in London for 20 years, walking away from the wreckage.
Speaking to the Hindustani Times from a hospital in Ahmedabad where he is receiving treatment for minor injuries, Vishwash said: “Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.
“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. 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.”
Now, his 27-year-old brother Nayan has spoken to the media outside the family home in Leicester.
“We were just shocked as soon as we heard it,” he told reporters. “I last spoke to him yesterday morning. We’re devastated, just devastated.
“He said I have no idea how I exited the plane.”
Another of Mr Ramesh’s relatives, Jay, said the survivor spoke to his father after the crash and asked after his brother Ajay, who is believed to have also been on the plane.
He told PA: “After the crash he spoke to his dad worrying about his brother saying ‘Where’s Ajay’?
“He’s got some injuries on his face,” Jay added. “He was painted in blood. He was pretty much covered in blood, that’s what his dad said.
“He’s doing well I think. It’s a big shock. I don’t have many words to describe the incident.”
Three British nationals who died in the crash have been named.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Gloucester Muslim Community said Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa and their four-year-old daughter Sara had died in the crash.