Vande Bharat Mission Day 5: 1667 Indians brought back on 8 flights
May 11, 2020
New Delhi [India], May 12 : On the fifth day of Vande Bharat Mission, as many as 1,667 Indian nationals were repatriated from different countries in eight special flights on Monday.
Among eight flights, two were from London, two from the Gulf region, and one each from San Francisco, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Dhaka.
"Indian citizens continue to return home. Today, on Day 5 of MissionVandeBharat, 1667 people returned on 8 flights from San Francisco, London, Manila, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Abu Dhabi & Dhaka. Great effort by @airindiain, AirIndiaExpress, @MEAIndia & Indian missions abroad," Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted.
Among 1667 people, the highest number of individuals- 657- were evacuated from London on Monday in two flights.
The first Air India special flight from US, which took off from San Francisco, brought in 225 Indians on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, a flight from Kuala Lumpur brought back 180 people to Chennai. The third flight from Bangladesh evacuated 107 individuals.
Another special flight from Dubai evacuated 178 Indians to Kochi. While 170 individuals were evacuated from Abu Dhabi on the day fifth the mission.
The second Air India repatriation flight from Manila evacuated 150 Indians stranded in Philippines.
The evacuations are being carried out Indian government under 'Vande Bharat' Mission. It has been described as the biggest ever repatriation exercise since independence -- to bring back stranded Indians from abroad, including from the US, the UAE, and the UK.
Nearly 15,000 Indians are expected to return on special Air India flights from 12 countries in the coming days.