India Evacuates 218 Students From Italy In Air India Flight
The evacuation was carried out after the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
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Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam
Video Producer: Maaz Hasan
A special Air India flight carrying 218 passengers including 211 Indian students, who were stuck in Italy after flights were cancelled due to outbreak of coronavirus, landed in India early on Sunday, 15 March.
Indian consulate in Milan in a tweet said that "211 students and 7 compassionate cases have been departed by Air India flight".
The evacuated Indians who landed at Delhi airport will be shifted to Indo-Tibetan Border Police's Chhawla camp.
The evacuation was carried out after the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and said that Europe is the new epicentre of the virus.
Italy is the worst hit nation and reported 175 deaths from coronavirus on Saturday, raising the country’s toll to 1,411.
One more batch of 234 Indians stranded in Iran also landed in Delhi in a Mahan Air flight earlier this Sunday morning. The stranded Indians were flown to army quarantine facility in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar tweeted saying that 234 Indians who were stranded in Iran, included 131 students and 103 pilgrims.
Air India has decided to cancel flights to Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Israel, South Korea and Sri Lanka till 30 April, an airline official said on Friday, 14 March amid mounting concerns over coronavirus epidemic. The move comes a day after the national carrier announced suspension of services to Kuwait till 30 April, reported news agency PTI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take part in a video conference with other SAARC nations at 5 pm on Sunday, 15 March to evolve a joint strategy to fight the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 5,000 people worldwide and infected 1.3 lakh others.
(With inputs from NDTV and ANI)
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