The lucky few who escaped death

Crash survivors recall struggling through the dense surrounding jungle to get clear of burning wreckage in Mangalore.

Sabrina Nasrin Haq, who climbed out of the plane despite having a broken leg, in hospital in Mangalore yesterday.

ABU DHABI // "I remember it reached the ground, and instead of slowing down, the plane suddenly sped up," said Sabrina Nasrin Haq, who was seated in 7B, near the front of Air India Express Flight 812. Ms Haq, 23, had fallen asleep during the flight and woke up a few minutes before the plane touched down and careered off the end of the runway, and down a hillside.

"When the plane stopped, I took off my belt and tried to get up but my foot was stuck. All I could think of was that I had to get away from the plane because I remembered that, in such cases, the planes tend to blow up." Ms Haq recalled how she managed to pull herself free and climb out of the plane, despite having a broken leg. The Bangladeshi, who grew up in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, is a student at the Kasturba Medical College, where she is completing an internship. She was returning from a two-week holiday with her parents in Al Ain. Yesterday, she could not recall how she got from the plane to a tree, where she was found.

"I don't remember that much," she said from her bed at the AJ Hospital and Research Centre in Mangalore, where she was being treated for her broken leg and cuts to her head, hands and legs. "After I started walking, I felt sleepy and drowsy, so I hugged the nearest tree and fell asleep, all the time thinking that the plane was going to blow up. I had to move away. "I cannot remember who was beside me," said Ms Haq. "The last I remember was looking back at the plane and it was on fire and I could hear people crying for help."

Her father, Mohammed Mahboob, a general medical practitioner in Al Ain, said her mother had left for Abu Dhabi yesterday and was getting on a flight to Bangalore to see their daughter. "My parents are relieved," said Ms Haq. "I have never been hospitalised like this before." Abdullah Puttur Ismail, 37, also managed to walk away from the wreckage. He said he climbed out through a crack in the fuselage, his hair, eyebrows and moustache on fire, and slid down into the dark jungle, where he walked a few metres before falling.

"Some trees and branches broke my fall. I was a little bruised and got hurt in my feet but I continued walking," said the store manager for Pairs Lifestyle in Dubai's Ibn Battuta Mall. He believes that he walked for half a kilometre before he saw people coming to his rescue. Mr Ismail was on his way home to a village near Mangalore, on medical leave for an injured shoulder. Dressed in a blue shirt and dark blue pants, Mr Ismail had bought a new pair of shoes for his journey home, which he lost during his escape from the plane. He also lost his passport. But his mobile phone and wallet stayed in his pocket.

His father-in-law, wife Shakida, two-year-old daughter Shaina and brother, Mohammed Thaha, were on their way to the airport to meet him when his brother received a phone call. Mr Ismail had given the men who went to his aid the phone number of his brother, who said he was confused when they told him that Mr Ismail was a "little hurt" but he was Ok. Mr Thaha said: "I was confused. They said, 'Your brother is with us. The plane has caught fire'. I had talked to him after he had boarded the plane so I asked to speak to him again. He said, 'Nothing has happened to me. Just come fast to the airport'." The men who rescued Mr Ismail took him to the airport where he was met by his family, who took him to Mangalore's KS Hegde Hospital. Mr Ismail suffered burns on his face, arms and hands. "My wife, she did not know. When she arrived, she heard about it. She didn't cry. She was Ok. She is shocked but is very happy that I survived," he said. @Email:[e-mail]