Over 350 Indians arrived in Kochi and Mumbai this morning in Indian Air Force planes after a dramatic rescue from strife-torn Yemen.
This is government’s first major mission to rescue Indians stranded in the strife-torn nation, where Saudi air strikes are targeting Iranian-backed rebels.
The evacuees, which included nurses and workers, among others, reached home in special flights, thus bringing an end to their about a week-long ordeal.
The Indian Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster, carrying them landed at around 3:25 AM at the city’s international airport in Mumbai.
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The evacuation operation was a very difficult task as not much details were available with the IAF, Wing Commander Vikram Abbi, co-pilot of the flight, told PTI.
One of the evacuees, Mary Amma Vargeese said, she was working as a nurse in a hospital in Aden for past two years. And, one day she suddenly “heard some exploding sound, after which I stopped going to work. All the shops were closed, we didn’t have food for many days,” she said.
A spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry has said of the 350 evacuees, 206 belong to Kerala, 40 are from Tamil Nadu, 31 from Maharashtra, 23 from West Bengal and 22 from Delhi, besides other states.
The Indians were evacuated late Monday night by INS Sumitra, which was diverted from its anti-piracy patrol in the region. It waited for hours to get local clearances as heavy fighting was reported in the city.
(With inputs from PTI)
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