Ahmedabad: Nearly a month after the deadly Air India crash which claimed 275 lives, 44-year-old Ramesh Kumar, the sole survivor, is still haunted by the trauma of that nightmarish flight.
The Indian-origin British citizen lost his brother Ajay in the June 12 tragedy, and has since withdrawn into near silence, his family members said.
According to cousin Sunny Kumar, Ramesh has not spoken to anyone beyond close family and continues to grapple with panic episodes, sleepless nights, and overwhelming grief. “He still wakes up in the middle of the night and finds it difficult to fall asleep again. We took him to a psychiatrist two days ago… he has not made any plans yet to return to London,” Sunny told PTI.
Haunted by crash, overwhelmed by loss
Ramesh and Ajay had travelled from Diu to Ahmedabad to catch Air India Flight AI 171 back to London. The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8, crashed into a medical college complex shortly after taking-off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 241 onboard of the 242 passengers aboard and 34 others on the ground.
Ramesh was seated in 11A, near the emergency exit. In an interview to Doordarshan, he recalled, “Luckily, the portion of the plane where I was seated fell on the ground floor of the hostel premises. When I saw that the door was broken, I told myself that I can try and get out. Eventually, I came out.”
In a widely shared video, he is seen walking through the wreckage towards an ambulance, dazed, but alive.
Ramesh was discharged from Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on June 17, the same day his family received Ajay’s remains after DNA identification. The next morning, Ramesh was seen carrying his brother’s body on his shoulders to the cremation ground in Diu.
Since then, family members said he has barely spoken. “He is yet to overcome the mental trauma of the crash and the death of his brother,” Sunny told PTI.
