Aug 11 – A survivor of the Dubai plane crash has been called the “world’s luckiest man” after he won US$1 million on a lottery six days later.
Mohammad Basheer Abdul Khada was a passenger when the Emirates aeroplane crashed and burst into flames on the runway of Dubai’s airport last Wednesday.
The 62-year-old grandfather walked away unscathed from the crash landing with the 300 other people on board, moments before the plane exploded in a fireball.
Mr Khada, from India, then had another stroke of luck when his winning lottery ticket turned him into a millionaire.
The lucky ticket number 0845 was drawn in the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire lottery at Concourse A at Dubai International Airport.
Mr Khadar, who works in a Dubai car dealership, bought the ticket in the airport on his way to Thiruvananthapuram in the south Indian state of Kerala.
On his return trip, he was seated on the plane which crash landed and caught fire.
He collected his prize on Tuesday, which came just four months before he was due to retire.
He told Gulf News: “I have been working in Dubai for 37 years, and I have always felt like this is my country.
“I live a simple life, and now that it’s my time to retire, I feel like God gave me a second life when I survived the plane crash, and blessed me with this money to follow all this up by doing good things”.
Mr Khadar plans to move back to India and try to find a job where he can help people in need.
He said: “I am blessed to have finally won with Dubai Duty Free and can’t wait to share the news with my family.
“If you ask me about my plans, I obviously want to help the children in Kerala who are less fortunate than others and need some financial help and medical support
“I don’t want to give it to a charity or build a business, I want to go out and find people who really need help and give them money. I was poor, and I know what people go through”.
-The Telegraph
