Hope amid grave tragedy: One passenger found alive in Ahmedabad Plane Crash

In a rare glimmer of hope amid a tragic disaster one passenger has survived the Ahmedabad Plane Crash incidentView this post on InstagramA post shared by midday middayindiaAccording to Dr Shriq M a trauma specialist at Ahmedabadrsquos Civil Hospital the survivormdashVishwaskumar Ramesh who was seated in 11Amdashwas travelling with his brother and has been admitted for treatmentldquoHe is currently under observation His condition is being closely monitoredrdquo Dr Shriq told PTIThe Londonbound Air India Boeing 7878 Dreamliner flight AI 171 with 242 passengers and crew went down shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabadrsquos Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Thursday afternoonThe plane crashed into a residential area near the airport perimeter striking a doctorsrsquo hostelThough there is no official confirmation on the toll Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that many have been feared deadAhmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik confirmed the development and said ldquoWe found one survivor in seat 11A He is currently hospitalised and under treatment The number of deaths cannot yet be confirmed The toll may rise as the aircraft crashed in a densely populated areardquoThe flight took off at 139 pm from runway 23 and issued a Mayday call to ATC shortly after departure Communication was lost soon thereafterThick black smoke was reported by locals at the Ahmedabad Plane Crash site in Meghani Nagar a residential zone adjacent to the airportThe aircraft was under the command of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal a Line Training Captain with over 8200 flying hours and First Officer Clive Kundar with 1100 hours of experienceIn a statement Air India said ldquoThe flight which departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board Of these 169 are Indian nationals 53 British 7 Portuguese and 1 Canadian The injured are being taken to the nearest hospitals We are fully cooperating with the authorities investigating this incidentrdquoA dedicated hotline has been established by Air India at 1800 5691 444 for concerned relatives and friends seeking informationIn response to the tragedy the Central Reserve Police Force CRPF deployed 150 personnel from its Rapid Action Force and Gandhinagar Group Centre In parallel three teams of the National Disaster Response Force NDRFmdashtotalling 90 personnelmdashhave been mobilised to support ongoing rescue operationsThe Ahmedabad City Police has also activated an emergency helpline at 0792562 0359 for updates and assistanceMeanwhile Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran announced Rs 1crore compensation for each victimrsquos family and full coverage of medical expenses for the injured He also pledged Tata Groups support in rebuilding the damaged BJ Medical College hostelldquoWe are deeply anguished by the tragic event involving flight AI 171 We remain steadfast in standing with the affected families and communities during this unimaginable timerdquo Chandrasekaran said in a statementInvestigations are underway to determine the cause of the accidentWith PTI and ANI inputs