The miracle of Ramesh, the survivor from seat 11A of the plane crash in India: "My brother was in the front row. Please help me find him."

In an apocalyptic scenario, amidst the crush of charred bodies entering the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, a wounded man with several cuts and burns to his face, chest and feet lay on a bed in the intensive care unit. Suddenly, journalists from the Hindustan Times , an Indian newspaper published in English, approached him and asked if he was one of the passengers on the crashed plane. "My name is Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, I am 40 years old and I was in seat 11A," he replied.

Ramesh had his boarding pass in his pocket. Indian authorities had just reported that, at that time, only one survivor had been found from the tragic plane crash at Ahmedabad airport. There were 242 people on board. Hours later, it was confirmed that 241 had died.

"Thirty seconds after takeoff, there was a loud noise and the plane crashed. It all happened very fast," Ramesh recounted in remarks reported by the Hindustan Times , which quickly went viral around the world. "When I woke up, there were bodies all around me. I was so scared. I got up and ran. There was debris from the plane everywhere. Someone grabbed me, put me in an ambulance, and took me to the hospital."

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian, along with 12 crew members, was engulfed in a massive fireball after crashing in the residential area minutes after takeoff at 1:38 p.m. local time on Thursday.

The aircraft, which was flying at a very low altitude, at 250 meters , crashed into the residence hall of a medical school located very close to the airport . It leveled the residence's dining hall, right at lunchtime, killing several students. Local media showed images of part of the plane perched on the building's roof.

The survivor, a British businessman who has lived in London since 2023 , also said that his brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh (45), was on the plane. "He was in the front row. Please help me find him," he said, bedridden. "He's disoriented, with multiple injuries all over his body. But he appears to be out of danger," said the doctor who treated Ramesh.

He was in row 11, the first row in economy class, located just behind an emergency exit, occupying the left window seat. After his identity was revealed, several British media outlets searched for his family and friends in the United Kingdom.

Ramesh has a wife and a four-year-old son . "Ramesh has no idea how he escaped," his younger brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, 27, told the BBC. "We were shocked when we found out. The last time I spoke to him was yesterday morning. We are devastated," he continued.

According to air traffic control at Ahmedabad Airport, the plane issued a "Mayday" call indicating an emergency, but the pilot subsequently failed to respond. The crash site is approximately 1.7 kilometers from the airport. This was the first crash involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, unlike the 737 Max, which has caused Boeing numerous headaches (it had two crashes shortly after entering service).

The cause of the crash is still unknown. "Boeing's 787 Dreamliner appeared to lack sufficient thrust as it struggled across nearly the entire length of a 3,352-meter runway, a distance that should have been more than enough for takeoff. This could have been due to an incorrect configuration of the plane before takeoff or erroneous weight data entered into the plane's computer system, which determines the power needed for takeoff," Bob Mann, head of aviation consultancy RW Mann & Co., said in an interview with Bloomberg.

"The 787's landing gear never retracted, which typically happens right after takeoff," said Jeff Guzzetti, former head of accident investigation for the US Federal Aviation Administration. Investigators from the US National Transportation Safety Board will travel to India to assist with the crash investigation .

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the crash site on Friday, and rescue teams and investigators continued to sift through the wreckage. Local media reported that one of the plane's two black boxes, the electronic data recorder normally located in the rear of the aircraft and which may help investigators unravel the cause of the crash, has been recovered .

At Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, family members have gathered to submit DNA samples as work continues to identify the deceased. Among the victims is Vijay Rupani, former chief minister of Gujarat, the state of which Ahmedabad is the capital.