There have been cases of a very small number of survivors in very serious accidents, but it is "very rare" for there to be only one, a professor told Newsweek.

At least 270 people died when an Air India flight crashed into the campus of a medical college in Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff on Thursday. The sight of the plane's tail cone hanging from the burning building propelled Navin Chaudhary and fellow medical students into action.