Sole survivor of Air India crash makes heartbreaking admission after revealing he was meant to sit next to brother

Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the devastating Air India crash that killed over 200 passengers last week, has made a heartbreaking confession about his 'guilt'.

Ramesh had been one of the 242 flyers on board the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that collided with a doctors' hostel on Thursday (12 June), just minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad in Western India.

The plane had been heading to Gatwick Airport in London, with an expected arrival time of 18:25 following a 09:50 departure.

Seconds after take-off, however, the aircraft's pilots made a mayday call to air traffic control officers.

Minutes later, the commercial jet plummeted into the residential area before exploding.

Local police initially told press that there would likely be 'no survivors' on board the plane, after footage shared online showed the aircraft in flames, releasing thick, black fumes into the air.

Only one flyer survived (Central Industrial Security Force / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

It later emerged, however, that a sole passenger had managed to escape the wreck with their life. A British man named Ramesh had been sat in seat 11A when the plane hit the floor, his brother Ajay sat in another row.

Speaking to Hindustan Times of his escape the following day, he firstly claimed: "It all happened so quickly."

Revealing he'd heard a 'loud noise' around 30 seconds after take-off, he added: "When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran.

"There were pieces of the plane all around me.

"Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital."

Now, almost a week since the deadly collision, Ramesh has spoken out again, telling The Sun he's been racked with guilt over the fact he'd intended to sit beside his brother, but was unable to.

Ramesh managed to crawl out of the wreck (Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Ajay - who was sat in 11J - died among the 240 other passengers.

"If we had been sat together we both might have survived," Ramesh told the publication. "I tried to get two seats together but someone had already got one. Me and Ajay would have been sitting together.

"But I lost my brother in front of my eyes. So now I am constantly thinking ‘Why can't I save my brother?’

The survivor continued: "It’s a miracle I survived. I am okay physically, but I feel terrible that I could not save Ajay."

Elsewhere during the interview, Ramesh recalled the moment he realised something was very wrong.

"The aircraft wasn't gaining altitude and was just gliding," he told the publication. "After that, the plane seemed to speed up, before it suddenly slammed into a building and exploded.

"Everything was visible in front of my eyes when the crash happened."

Ramesh had intended on sitting next to his brother (Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Ramesh went on to confess: "I too thought that I was about to die, but then I opened my eyes and realised that I was still alive."

After unbuckling his seat belt, he managed to crawl through a small opening.

"Where I landed was closer to the ground and there was space too - and when my door broke - I saw that there was space. I saw an opening. I used my leg to push through that opening, and crawled out.

"Everyone around me was either dead or dying. I still don't understand how I escaped."