News Desk – Not one of the 241 people on board Air India flight AI171 survived except Viswashkumar Ramesh, a 29-year-old man from Leicester, UK. Among those who died was his own brother, Ajay kumar. What the world calls a miracle is now a painful nightmare for Ramesh.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, flying from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick on June 12, crashed seconds after takeoff, killing passengers and crew. Ramesh was sitting near the emergency exit and managed to jump out, but his brother was seated elsewhere and did not survive.
In an emotional interview with Sky News, Ramesh struggled to speak. He often paused, fell silent, or broke down.
He said life has completely changed since the crash:
He barely leaves his room.
He spends hours staring into space, thinking about his brother.
His wife helps him bathe because of injuries to his knee, back, shoulder, and burns on his arm.
His four-year-old son Divang tries to reach out, but Ramesh says he’s not able to talk to him properly.
Before the crash, Ramesh and his brother had used all their savings to start a fishing business in India. The business has now stopped, leaving both their families in India and the UK without income.
Air India has offered Ramesh an interim compensation of £21,500 (about ₹21.9 lakh). However, his advisor Radd Seiger says the amount is nowhere near enough to support his recovery, therapy, daily living costs, or childcare.
