Gulf News story about plane accident survivor hitting jackpot goes viral

Dubai: Gulf News’ exclusive story about the man who won the $1million prize a week after escaping death during the Emirates plane accident in Dubai has gone viral around the world.

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The story about Indian expat Mohammad Basheer Abdul Khadar, published by Gulf News both in print and its website on Wednesday, was carried and attributed to Gulf News by leading newspapers and websites around the world. Gulf News story was also tweeted by Dubai Media Office on Wednesday evening. 

The Dubai expatriate who was on board EK521, the Emirates flight which was involved in an accident after landing last week, struck gold on Tuesday.

His lucky ticket number 0845 was drawn in the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire at Concourse A at Dubai International Airport, winning him a cool $1 million (Dh3.67 million).

Khadar, a 62-year-old grandfather, had purchased the ticket on Eid while he was on his way for a vacation with his family in Thiruvananthapuram in the south Indian state of Kerala.

A fleet administrator with a car dealer group in Dubai, Khadar had made it a habit to purchase a raffle ticket whenever he travelled to his home country. Khadar became a millionaire after purchasing his 17th ticket, just four months before he was due to retire in December, he told Gulf News in an interview.