July 29, 2006
More Indians to arrive home from Lebanon early Friday
The Indian government is bringing 410 people, including Indians, Sri Lankans and Nepalese, from the strife-torn Lebanon by a special aircraft. They were expected to reach Delhi in the wee hours of Friday.
“In the third round of evacuation being undertaken Thursday, 410 persons are being airlifted by a chartered Air India aircraft, which is expected to reach Delhi at around 0030 hrs (Friday),” Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said in a statement.
In the earlier two rounds of the Operation Sukoon, launched after Israel started attacking Hezbollah militants in south Lebanon a fortnight ago, India evacuated 1,449 people from Beirut to Larnaca in Cyprus by its Naval ships and brought them to Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi by special Air India flights.
At the beginning of the conflict, there were about 12,000 Indians in Lebanon, most of whom are contract workers.
Of the 410 expected to arrive early Friday, 250 are from Punjab, 30 from Tamil Nadu, 16 from Delhi, eight from Kerala and two from Maharashtra, apart from 88 Sri Lankans and 16 Nepal citizens.
Sri Lanka and Nepal have requested India to help evacuate their citizens stranded in Lebanon.
A chartered Indian Airlines flight is expected to carry about 150 passengers to Amritsar from Delhi.
“Rest of the passengers will be carried to their respective destination by connecting flights or road transport with the assistance of Indian Airlines and the state governments.
“Arrangements are also made for food and medical assistance at the airport for all the evacuees,” said Ravi, who has been personally supervising the evacuation operations.
At least one Indian has been killed and four, including a soldier attached to the UN peacekeeping force, have been injured in Israel’s attacks.
The overseas Indian affairs ministry has opened a help desk (contact number: 9910134863) at the Delhi airport for assistance. Moreover, the ministry’s control room operates on 24×7 basis and can be contacted at telephone numbers 91 11 26874250/24197972 and fax number 91 11 24197984.