NEW DELHI: The first flight with 360 Indians evacuated from Sudan has landed in Delhi.
Around 534 Indians have so far been evacuated from Sudan and reached Jeddah. From there, they are being sent to India through Indian Air Force C130 J aircraft.
"Another 250 evacuees are likely to board a flight to India from Jeddah and we are optimistic that around 300 more Indians will be brought into Jeddah from Sudan by Thursday morning. This is an ongoing and continuous process and we are doing our best to get our citizens back to safety," said the Ministry of External Affairs.
"Happy to see off 360 Indians at Jeddah airport in a Delhi-bound flight. The government is working relentlessly to evacuate Indian nationals from Sudan and bring them home safely," said Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan. The minister is in Jeddah to personally oversee the evacuation of Indians stranded in Sudan.
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Meanwhile, the rescued Indians have shared their ordeal through videos that have been shared on social media.
"The fight was intense and we were struggling for food. The tent of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was installed near our company. However, we were looted and held hostage for eight hours. Our mobiles were taken away and they had aimed rifles at us," said one evacuee.
They kept in touch with the Embassy in Khartoum and requested it to arrange for buses. Once the Navy took over, the evacuated Indians heaved a sigh of relief as there was food to eat and a safe ship to travel on (INS Sumedha).
Meanwhile, India has to make the most of the 72-hour ceasefire and evacuate as many people as they can. Nearly 3000 Indians were based in Sudan before the conflict began. Indians are boarding ships from Port Sudan to Jeddah. Port Sudan is around 835 km from Khartoum and the journey takes nearly 12 hours. The journey from Port Sudan to Jeddah by sea takes another 12 hours.
India is focused on moving its nationals from conflict zones to safe zones before transporting them to Port Sudan. Indian authorities are also exploring other places to evacuate Indians from Khartoum including the use of military airbases. In Jeddah, India has set up a control room and transit facility to facilitate evacuation. The transit facility has beds, fresh meals, medical aid and wi-fi.
