PM Modi praises Air India for its 'courage' in evacuating Indians from virus-hit Italy
Total Views |
New Delhi, March 23: Evacuating 263 Indians from coronavirus-hit Italy’s capital city of Rome through an Air India special flight, PM Narendra Modi on Monday lauded the Air India crew members for airlifting stranded people even in the coronavirus outbreak. He expressed his pride in them of showing ‘utmost courage’ and rising to the ‘call of humanity.’
The flight had on Saturday deployed a Boeing 777 with 12 crew members to rescue stranded Indian citizens in Rome, Italy, amid the Covid-19 outbreak. This is the second batch of Indians evacuated from Italy. Italy, on the other hand, Italy announced 651 deaths in just one day, bringing the tally up to 5,476 on Sunday.
Earlier Air India had performed similar rescue operations in Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, Milan and Japan. On February 1, Air India's plane 747 flew to Wuhan, the then epicenter of Coronavirus to rescue 324 stranded Indians, one of the earliest rescue ops by any government globally. A day later, the same aircraft rescued 323 more Indians along with 7 Maldivian nationals.
Meanwhile, India has already announced a complete ban on the landing of international flights since Sunday. Even over 13,600 passenger and mail express trains have been suspended till March 31 across the country. According to the latest figures 385 people have tested positive for coronavirus in India on Monday including seven deaths so far.
The Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri informed about the evacuation. He said, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going," posting a photo of the crew of Air India Boeing 777 led by Captain Swati Raval and Captain Raja Chauhan who airlifted 263 Indians, mostly students, stranded in Rome. PM Modi responds to this, he said, "Extremely proud of this team of @airindiain, which has shown utmost courage and risen to the call of humanity. Their outstanding efforts are admired by several people across India. #IndiaFightsCorona."
Extremely proud of this team of @airindiain, which has shown utmost courage and risen to the call of humanity. Their outstanding efforts are admired by several people across India. #IndiaFightsCorona https://t.co/I7Czxep7bj
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 23, 2020
The flight had on Saturday deployed a Boeing 777 with 12 crew members to rescue stranded Indian citizens in Rome, Italy, amid the Covid-19 outbreak. This is the second batch of Indians evacuated from Italy. Italy, on the other hand, Italy announced 651 deaths in just one day, bringing the tally up to 5,476 on Sunday.
Earlier Air India had performed similar rescue operations in Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, Milan and Japan. On February 1, Air India's plane 747 flew to Wuhan, the then epicenter of Coronavirus to rescue 324 stranded Indians, one of the earliest rescue ops by any government globally. A day later, the same aircraft rescued 323 more Indians along with 7 Maldivian nationals.
Meanwhile, India has already announced a complete ban on the landing of international flights since Sunday. Even over 13,600 passenger and mail express trains have been suspended till March 31 across the country. According to the latest figures 385 people have tested positive for coronavirus in India on Monday including seven deaths so far.