New Delhi: India on Sunday airlifted the second batch of 321 stranded Indians and seven Maldivian citizens from China's coronavirus-hit Wuhan city, taking the total number of people evacuated to 654, Indian officials said.
Air India's jumbo B747 made two flights to Wuhan city - the ground zero of the coronavirus epidemic that has killed more than 300 people, infected 14,380 others and spread to 25 countries, including India, the US and the UK.
In the first flight on early Saturday, 324 Indians were evacuated and on Sunday another 321 Indians and seven Maldivian citizens were flown back.
Vikram Misri, Ambassador of India to China: The 2nd Air India flight from Wuhan (China) has taken off for Delhi with 323 Indian citizens on board. 7 Maldives citizens also evacuated. #CoronaVirus https://t.co/Lxax67eJs2
— ANI (@ANI) February 2, 2020
"The 2nd #AirIndia flight from #Wuhan has just taken off for #Delhi with 323 Indian citizens on board. 7 Maldives citizens are also being evacuated. Grateful once again to @MFA_China and local authorities all across #Hubei for their assistance," Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri tweeted on Sunday.
"Want to thank my team at @EOIBeijing which mounted a non-stop almost 96-hour long operation to coordinate a complex airlift under challenging circumstances for us, the passengers and local authorities in #Hubei and #Wuhan," he said in another tweet.
"A special word of appreciation for two of our officers who are on board the plane - Deepak Padmakumar and M Balakrishnan - they showed exemplary fortitude and a real spirit of public service by travelling to ground zero in #Wuhan to coordinate airport arrangements. Kudos to both," he tweeted.
Among those evacuated, 227 were men while 94 were women. At least 282 were staying in China as students while 36 were employed. At least 3 were minors.
Here's the state-wise division of Indians evacuated from China on Sunday:
Andhra Pradesh: 02
Bihar: 42
Delhi: 16
Gujarat: 04
Haryana: 16
Himachal Pradesh: 01
Jammu & Kashmir: 29
Jharkhand: 02
Karnataka: 04
Kerala: 73
Madhya Pradesh: 06
Maharashtra: 14
Odisha: 01
Punjab: 05
Rajasthan: 14
Tamil Nadu: 28
Uttar Pradesh: 53
Uttrakhand: 02
West Bengal: 09
Four Indians could not board the second flight after they reported high temperatures, Misri told PTI. On Saturday, at least six Indian couldn't board the flight as they were stopped by the Chinese immigration after they reported high temperature. They may be quarantined to undergo tests to determine whether they have symptoms of the coronavirus, officials said.
Twenty-five others stayed back, Misri said, adding that there may still be about 100 Indians who remained in Hubei province for which Wuhan is the provincial capital - the city where the virus first emerged in late December.
Ahead of the evacuation, the Indian Embassy had informed its stranded citizens that they have to undergo health tests before boarding the flight and also undergo a 14-day quarantine in special camps after reaching India.
Misri said that it was one of the most complex operations for the Indian officials as the entire evacuation process had to be conducted in Wuhan and Hubei province, which were under total lockdown with all transportation including private vehicles banned as part of measures to curb the virus.
The entire operation needed to be conducted about 500-km away, he said.
In the meantime, the Philippines reported the first death outside China from the coronavirus that has killed over 300. The fatality is a 44-year-old Chinese man from the city of Wuhan, where the virus was first detected, and appears to have been infected before arriving in the Philippines.
