Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, from Leicester, called it a “miracle” that he made it out alive from the horrific crash that claimed over 270 lives.
A well-known Indian actress faced heavy backlash after claiming the only survivor of the Air India disaster wasn’t telling the truth. Suchitra Krishnamoorthi caused outrage with her comments about Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh and has since apologised.
In a now-deleted post on X, she wrote: “So this #vishwaskumarramesh lied about being a passenger on the plane and the only survivor? This is seriously weird. Didn’t his family in the UK back up his story?”
She went on to add: “What about his brother’s funeral where he was seen carrying the body? If this turns out to be true, he doesn’t just deserve punishment — he needs time in a mental asylum, uff.”
After facing a wave of backlash, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi publicly apologised.
She wrote on X: “Deleted my last tweet about the Air India crash survivor. Looks like it was false news being spread for who knows what reason. My apologies.”
Mr. Ramesh, from Leicester, was the sole survivor of the Air India flight that crashed into a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad, western India, less than a minute after take-off last week.
Tragically, all 241 other people on board flight AI171 — including his brother Ajay — lost their lives, along with at least 30 people on the ground.
The 40-year-old described it as a “miracle” that he survived, managing to escape through a gap in the fuselage of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which was on its way to London Gatwick. Footage later showed Mr. Ramesh walking away from the wreckage with visible cuts on his hands and face but otherwise unharmed.
Earlier this week, after being released from hospital, he helped carry his brother’s coffin during an emotional funeral in Diu on India’s west coast.
“It’s a miracle I survived,” he told The Sun. “I’m okay physically, but I feel awful that I couldn’t save Ajay.”
The married father-of-one had been sitting in seat 11A, close to an emergency exit, while his brother was in seat 11J on the other side of the aisle.
Investigators have since recovered the plane’s black boxes as they work to determine what caused the tragedy. Early reports suggest the aircraft’s emergency-power generator may have been running at the time of the crash, raising concerns about whether both engines were working properly during take-off.