Bhoomi Chauhan was headed for Ahmedabad airport to board her flight to Gatwick on Thursday.
Bumper-to-bumper traffic was so bad that she missed the Air India flight AI171 by 10 minutes.
“Missing the flight left me feeling disheartened. All I could think was, ‘If I had just left a bit earlier, I would have made it onto the plane,'” she expressed.
“I pleaded with the airline staff to let me in since I was only 10 minutes late. I explained that I was the last passenger and requested them to let me board, but they didn’t permit me.”
The student told BBC that missing her flight was “totally a miracle for me”.
British national, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, was the only survivor of the crash.
Ramesh told Indian broadcaster Doordarshan that he escaped through a small space near the door by his seat.
He said his hand was burned by the flames as he fled from the aircraft.
“I don’t know how I managed to escape,” Ramesh said, adding that he saw other passengers die in front of him.
“For a moment, I thought my life was ending. However, when I opened my eyes, I realized I was still alive. I attempted to unbuckle myself from the seat and find a way to escape,” he recounted.
