The sole survivor of the plane crash in India on Thursday has no serious injuries. Indian doctors announced this on Friday. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh has also given more details about how he brought himself to safety.
The forty-year-old Ramesh was in seat 11A. That is close to the emergency exit in the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, and that seems to have helped him.
“When I opened my eyes, I saw that I could get out on my side of the plane,” says Ramesh. “The other side of the plane had ended up against a building. Nobody could get to safety there. I don’t know how I survived and I saw others die.”
“Eventually I managed to free myself,” he continues. “When the emergency exit fell out, I was able to escape.”
Shortly after his escape, citizens rushed to meet Ramesh. His first meters after the escape were captured in the images below. He was able to reach the ambulance himself.
According to Ramesh, he was able to leave the disaster site with ‘only’ minor burns on his arm. Indian doctors also say that he has not suffered any serious injuries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited him in the hospital.
Plane crash claims about 260 lives
It is not clear how many people died in the plane crash. What is certain is that all other 241 occupants have died, as well as several dozen people on the ground.
Indian police reported a death toll of almost three hundred on Thursday, but have adjusted it downwards due to “double counting”. In any case, it is the worst plane crash of the past ten years.
Indian media report that India is currently considering grounding the entire fleet of 787-8 Dreamliners until the investigation into the crash is completed. That has not yet been officially confirmed.
The cause of the crash is not yet known. So far, one of the two black boxes, a kind of logbook of the plane, has been recovered.