The aircraft, carrying 242 passengers and crew, hit the canteen of a government medical college less than two minutes after departing Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, the lone survivor, told Hindustan Times: “I got up, and there were bodies all around me”.
Ramesh’s brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh, 45, had also been on board. Speaking from his hospital bed at Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital, Ramesh said he could not find him. “We were visiting from London. We had gone to Diu. He was travelling with me. I don’t know where he is now.”
Within minutes, convoys of police vehicles, ambulances and fire engines arrived at the scene. Political leaders followed soon after. Even police cadets still undergoing training were called in to assist. By mid-afternoon, the road leading to the wreckage had become impassable, choked with emergency vehicles and black smoke.
People light candles as they take part in a prayer ceremony for the victims (Photo: Diptendu Dutta/AFP/Getty)The alleyways around the site were too narrow for most rescue vehicles to pass. Firefighters and paramedics were seen weaving between buildings, often on foot, to bring bodies out. Locals stood at their windows or gathered in clusters, some offering water to responders emerging from the site, their faces streaked with soot and sweat.
As the day passed, cranes and bulldozers were brought in to clear debris. At one point, municipal officials arrived with truckloads of cloth to help cover the dead. The need was so great that journalists and local residents joined in to help.
Meenaben Purohit wept as she searched for her nephew, Akash Nileshbhai Purohit. “He was on the flight. We found out from the news,” she said, clutching her phone.
“My sister and brother-in-law were in seats 110 and 111,” said one man. “We’ve been here for hours. We’re not tourists. We’ve lost our family.”
“He was on that plane. We only found out when we saw the news,” she told The Daily Telegraph, clutching a photograph of Aakash, who lived in the village of Khambhodaj. “No one is telling us anything. We just want to know if he’s alive.”
Search and recovery teams work through the rubble on Thursday night (Photo: Ajit Solanki/AP)“My uncle lives in Gandhinagar,” he said. “I’ve been to the hospital gate, the morgue, the emergency ward, but no one has his name. I don’t know where to go.”
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Outside the hospital’s main entrance, authorities had posted a printed list of survivors. Dozens gathered, scanning names in silence. In the background, ambulances continued to arrive and depart under a dim orange glow.
Indian aviation authorities have not yet determined the cause of the crash. Air India said it is cooperating with investigators. The aircraft’s black box has reportedly been recovered and is being analysed.
At the hospital, Vishwash Ramesh remains in a guarded room, recovering from internal injuries. When asked what he remembers of the crash, he looked away, his voice trembling. “I don’t know how I made it out alive,” he said. “I hope my brother is also alive.”
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