New video shows people escaping from balcony post Air India plane crash; rescuers narrate initial horror

Ahmedabad: A new video has surfaced showing panicked residents of the BJ Medical College (BJMC) in Ahmedabad jumping off or attempting to leap from the balcony of a five-storey building when the Air India flight AI-171 slammed into their campus on June 12.

In one of the frames of the chilling video, a woman is seen trying to climb down from the balcony with the support of mere railings with huge flames emanating from the crash site just metres away.

In the background, people recording the video from above the peripheral wall of the campus could be heard shouting, fearing the girl could fall and sustain injuries.

Later, a man is also seen trying to climb down in a similar way.

The BJMC, one of the oldest medical colleges in India, has been the epicentre of action following the crash, which killed 241 people on board the ill-fated flight and 29 on the ground, including five MBBS students.

The London-bound AI flight, a Boeing 737-8 Dreamliner, crashed into the medical complex moments after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport.

The impact of the crash was such that the aircraft's tail got stuck in the hostel mess building and parts of the plane were strewn across the residential campus.

BJMC Dean Minakshi Parikh on Monday said alternate rooms have been given to all those who were asked to vacate the accommodation after the disaster.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AIIB) had asked the medical college to vacate four buildings that suffered damage in the crash to allow it to conduct probe into one of the worst air disasters in recent times.

Rescuers and first responders described the ghastly nature of the crash and its chaotic aftermath.

Chirag Santoki, the hospital-based coordinator of the GVK EMRI Green Health Services, which provides ambulances service across Gujarat, was at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, some 500 metres from the crash site. He was one of the first people to reach the spot.

Santoki saw UK citizen of Indian origin Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the air crash who was occupying seat No. 11A , coming out of the campus.

"Blood was oozing out of his head and he was speaking to someone on a video call and informing about the accident," he told PTI.

"When we heard the huge crash sound and the explosion, we rushed. But the heat from the site could be felt even some 500 metres from the crash spot," Santoki said.

Santoki pointed out rescuers had to pick up bodies with bare hands because they were so hot that even the gloves would melt. Fire department personnel would first pour water on the charred remains, then collect and pick them up.

Mukesh Solanki, a fleet pilot of the ambulances whose job is to look after maintenance of the patient transport vehicles, said some bodies were without head, some without torso or limbs.

The stench from the charred bodies was unbearable and they were stacked wherever there was space, he recalled.

"We got the ambulances serviced but the stench refused to go. We ferry all sorts of patients, like those with heart and chest ailments in the ambulance. So we sprayed room fresheners to clear the stench," Solanki said.