Mumbai : In the safety and comfort of the Indian Navy Ships, the second batch of expats reached Mumbai on late Friday night. After the first batch of 349 expats successfully reached to the safety of their homes, the second batch with another 306 Indians including 20 to 25 Mumbaikars were evacuated from war-torn Yemen on late Thursday.
The Indians – 251 men, 38 women and 17 children – were picked up by INS Sumitra from Yemen’s Al Hodeidah and reached the city on late Friday night. Amidst shelling and firing reported by the crew of INS Sumitra, the ship departed from Al Hodeidah with all the expats and safely docked at Djibouti on Friday afternoon.
Besides them, about 500 Indians have taken civil flights to reach Djibouti from Yemen’s capital Sana. The Saudi government allowed civil flights to take off from Sana. Some of these also reached Mumbai on late Friday night.
Meanwhile, the 306 Indians evacuated by INS Sumitra were dropped at Djibouti port after being rescued from the war torn Aden and were air lifted in Indian Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster-III.
The crew living quarter was cleared to accommodate women, elderly persons and children on board the ship. There was shamianas set up for the men on the upper deck of the ship. To those in need, the required first aid treatment was immediately given by medical officers on board the ship. There was also special emphases given to pregnant women and elderly persons.
Despite the galley (Kitchen) of the ship having the capacity to cater to only 100 people, the cook on board the ship worked round the clock to provide proper meal to those evacuated which was three times the usual strength. Another two ships namely INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash were despatched on the night of 30 March 2015 from Mumbai.
INS Mumbai is charging ahead to enter the Yemen port while INS Tarkash is escorting two ships from the Shipping Corporation of India (Ex Cochin). These vessels will enter the piracy ridden waters of the Gulf of Aden on 4 April 2015 to join in the rescue effort.
