234 Indians evacuated from coronavirus-hit Iran arrive in India

The evacuation by India was carried out after WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

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New Delhi: As many as 234 Indians who were among the people stranded in Iran amid the coronavirus outbreak have arrived in India. A Mahan Air flight carrying the Indians onboard landed in Delhi at 3:10 am on March 15. Among the 234 people, 131 of them are students and the rest are pilgrims.

"234 Indians stranded in Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims. Thank you Ambassador @dhamugaddam (Dhamu Gaddam) and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted today, thanking the Iranian authorities for facilitating the evacuations of Indians. 

In another development, a special Air India flight carrying 211 Indian students, who were stuck in Italy after flights were cancelled due to coronavirus outbreak, departed for India on Saturday and will be arriving in the national capital at around 10:30 am today. The flight which took off from Milan also has seven compassionate cases. 

"211 students & 7 compassionate cases departed by AI flight #Milan. All those who helped us through this difficult situation, special thanks to @airindiain team & Italian authorities. Consulate will continue to ensure the welfare of all Indians in northern #Italy," Indian Consulate in Milan tweeted. 

The evacuation by India was carried out after the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and said that Europe is the new epicentre of the lethal virus.

Iran is among the worst affected country from the coronavirus with 12,729 cases and 611 deaths so far. Italy, on the other hand, has reported 175 deaths from coronavirus, raising the toll to 1,411. Earlier, Air India had announced the cancellation of all flights to Kuwait and Italy till April 30.

In the past few days, India has carried out several evacuations of Indians nationals from countries like China, Japan and Iran as the number of cases of Coronavirus continue to rise in these countries.