Air India flight lands in Yemen to evacuate stranded Indians
Earlier, 190 Indians alight from the Indian Air Force C 17 (Globemaster) aircraft after being evacuated from Djibouti, at the International Airport in Mumbai on early Thursday morning. (Source: AP)
Around 1,900 Indians stranded in strife-torn Yemen would be evacuated soon via sea and air routes, said Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
The Kerala CM said an Air India flight and two aircrafts of Air Force have reached Yemen capital Sana’a, where hundreds of Indians are waiting to return to the country. One of the flights would reach Kochi tonight and two other flights would land in Mumbai. The two ships are expected to reach the ports of Aden and Al Hudaydah tonight to ferry back Indians, he said.
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Chandy urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rush more flights to Sana’a as Air India has received permission to fly into the city. Expatriates have complained that hospitals and companies were reluctant to hand over certificates and documents to them. The India Embassy should be asked to intervene in such situations to ensure the speed journey of Indians trapped in Yemen, Chandy said. No Indian should be left to languish in Yemen for want of documents at this stage, he added.
Chandy has been repeatedly writing to the Prime Minister as hundreds of Keralites, particularly nurses are working in Yemen.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Indians are camping in Sana’a airport expecting to board the flights to India. Nurses from Kerala said many of them working outside Sana’a had reached the airport on Thursday itself.
A section of Indian expatriates living in Yemen do not have a valid visa for travel. Even nurses who had reached Yemen one year ago got their visas only two months back. Such expatriates are finding it difficult to get an exit pass from Yemen, sources said.
Although tension is mounting in Yemen after Saudi Arabia intensified air strikes, Indians said so far there is no shortage for food or essential items. Even the roads are clear in most parts of the city, they said.
Source:: Indian Express
