4th batch of 53 Indians evacuated from Iran: Jaishankar
The fourth batch of 53 Indians returned to India from Iran on Monday, taking the total number of people evacuated from the coronavirus-hit country to 389. This comes a day after over 230 Indians were brought back from Iran to New Delhi and quarantined at the Indian Army Wellness Centre in Jaisalmer, the third batch to be evacuated from that country.
"Fourth batch of 53 Indians - 52 students and a teacher - has arrived from Tehran and Shiraz, Iran. With this, a total of 389 Indians have returned to India from Iran. Thank the efforts of the team @India_in_Iran and Iranian authorities," Jaishankar tweeted.
The Indians came in a Mahan Air flight that landed at the Delhi airport at around 3 am, officials said, adding that they were later taken to Jaisalmer in an Air India flight for being quarantined.
The first batch of 58 Indian pilgrims were brought back from Iran last Tuesday and the second group of 44 Indian pilgrims arrived from there on Friday.
Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working to bring back Indians stranded there. Over 700 people have died from the disease in Iran and nearly 14,000 cases have been detected.
Jaishankar had told Rajya Sabha last week that the government was focusing on evacuating Indians stranded in Iran and Italy as these countries are facing an "extreme situation".
3 people of 236 evacuated from Iran checked for coronavirus, all tested negative
Three people of the 236 who were evacuated from Iran on Sunday were checked for coronavirus and the tests were found to be negative, officials said. Only three people were checked as they were showing some symptoms.
Two Air India flights carrying 236 Indians from coronavirus-hit Iran landed in Jaisalmer on Sunday morning and the passengers were quarantined at the Indian Army Wellness Centre.
"Preliminary screening of the people was undertaken at the airport upon arrival. Thereafter, they were moved to the Army Wellness Centre at Jaisalmer," Defence Spokesperson Colonel Sombit Ghosh said.
Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rohit Kumar Singh said that of these evacuees, three who had symptoms were tested and the results came out negative.
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