Air India evacuates 115 stranded Indians from Israel

May 26, 2020 08:46

Some 115 Indians, including out of work and broke caregivers, students and pregnant women, were all smiles as they boarded an Air India flight here on Tuesday and left for India after being stranded in Israel for more than two months due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

The flight took off at 1 AM IST and also carried a Nepalese national Prabha Baskota, married to an Indian, and five Israeli diplomats posted in Delhi.

Out of the 121 passengers aboard flight AI 140, some 85 of them would take a connecting flight to Kochi on Tuesday from Delhi. Most of the Kochi passengers are caregivers who have wished to be quarantined close to their home.

"These are very challenging times and the Vande Bharat Mission flight to India is one of our many efforts to reach out to our community of students and caregivers here in Israel," India's ambassador to Israel Sanjeev Singla told PTI at the airport.

"The Ministry of External Affairs, the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Home Ministry, the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the embassy have taken all possible steps to ensure that our nationals stranded and facing hardships for various reasons are able to return home", Singla said.

The Indian government launched the ''Vande Bharat Mission'' on May 7 to bring back Indians stranded in various countries due to coronavirus-related restrictions.

Under Phase I of the mission, the government evacuated a total of 6,527 Indians from the Gulf region and from countries like the US, the UK, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Malaysia and the Maldives.

Among the passengers on Tuesday was 74-year-old Sam Edelji Turel from Maharashtra, who came to Israel in February for treatment of lymphoma.

"I was referred to Sheba Medical Centre and I was happy to see the state of the art technology being used in Israel for the treatment of Lymphoma. I got very professional care during my treatment after coming here on February 3. My treatment got over on April 10 and since then me and my wife have been waiting to go back", Turel said.

"I must say that we are very lucky that a flight has been organised for stranded Indians like me. As elderly people, we cannot thank enough for this help. At the same time I hope that I can reach Mumbai and be quarantined there as I continue to need medical care and my doctors are there," he said.

Some pregnant women waiting to collect their boarding passes looked quite relieved after having gone through weeks of uncertainty and forced to stay on without any support after having been laid off by their employers. -- PTI

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