The sole survivor of the Air India flight AI171 crash, British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, has recounted the terrifying moments before the disaster. The 40-year-old, seated in 11A near an emergency exit, described hearing a loud noise 30 seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad before the plane plunged. “When I got up, there were bodies all around me,” he told *Hindustan Times*, adding that he escaped by jumping through the emergency door. His brother, seated elsewhere on the plane, remains unaccounted for. Authorities have recovered 265 bodies from the wreckage, with the death toll expected to rise as the crash also hit a residential area.

Investigators are probing the cause of the crash after pilots issued a mayday call reporting lost thrust and power. Air India Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran expressed “profound sorrow” and pledged support for victims’ families. Viral footage shows Ramesh walking away from the scene, later hospitalized with injuries. Police confirmed he was the only survivor found amid the devastation, calling his escape miraculous. The flight, bound for London Gatwick, carried 265 passengers and crew when it crashed shortly after takeoff on June 12.