Bhoomi Chauhan said she was “still shivering” thinking about her lucky escape
22:01, 13 Jun 2025Updated 22:01, 13 Jun 2025
People look at parts of an Air India plane that crashed on Thursday(Image: AP)
A Bristol student escaped the horror Air India flight that crashed and killed hundreds of people after getting stuck in traffic. Bhoomi Chauhan, 28, who studies business administration, was due to fly to the UK from Ahmedabad, India, but missed the doomed Air India flight 171 by 10 minutes after getting stuck in traffic.
Chauhan said she was “still shivering” thinking about her lucky escape. She said: “I am completely devastated after hearing about the loss (of lives). My body is literally shivering. I am not able to talk. My mind is totally blank now after hearing all that has happened.”
Mirror Online reports Chauhan said she left the Sardar Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at roughly 1.30pm after missing the flight – which took off around 1.38pm and crashed in a residential area only moments later.
She said: “My mind is totally blank. I am thankful to God. My Ganpati Bappa saved me.”
Chauhan, who lives with her husband in London and had flown to India on holiday, added: “Just because of those ten minutes, I could not board the flight. I don’t know how to explain this.”
The plane was carrying more than 240 people, including 53 British nationals. It was bound for Gatwick Airport but erupted into a fireball near Ahmedabad Airport in western India shortly after taking off – sending huge amounts of black smoke billowing into the sky.
All but one of the passengers, Viswash Kumar Ramesh, whose family home is in Leicester, died in the crash. Part of the jet fell on top of the dining area of B.J. Medical College, killing at least five medical students and injuring almost 50.
Among the 53 Britons to have been killed were a family who lived in Gloucester, three members of the same family who lived in London, and a married couple who ran a spiritual wellness centre in the capital.