'Luckiest man alive': Dubai crash-landing survivor hits $1m jackpot

An Indian Dubai resident has been hailed as the 'luckiest man alive' for winning $1 million in lottery only a few days after surviving a crash landing in Dubai airport.

Mohamed Basheer Abdul Khadar was one of 300 passengers and crew who barely escaped from the burning wreckage of an Emirates airplane that crash-landed in Dubai on 3 August.

The incident, which shut down the Middle East's busiest airport for several hours, forcing authorities to cancel hundreds of flights, left one firefighter dead as he tackled the blaze.

Six days later, the 62-year-old grandfather from the southern Indian state of Kerala won the Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire lottery.

"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," he told Gulf News.

Abdul Khadar, who has been a resident of Dubai for 37 years, said he had made it a habit always to buy a lottery ticket before returning to India - the winning ticket was the 17th he had purchased.

The fleet administrator at a car dealer group in Dubai described his escape from the Emirates plane crash as a "miracle".

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. - Mohamed Basheer Abdul Khadar

"I value the escape as a more precious gift from God and I knew God saved me for some specific purpose. Probably this is it," he said.

He added that he had plans to return to India after his retirement, which is due in December, to find a job that involves helping people in need.

"I obviously want to help the children in Kerala who are less fortunate than others and need some financial help and medical support."

Despite the win, Abdul Khadar said he would continue to work as long as he could.

"Nothing else can give you the satisfaction of your hard-earned money," he said.