Mumbai/New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) The third batch of 68 Indians from violence-torn Libya landed in Mumbai in a Gulf Air flight Monday morning. Another 600 Indians will be brought back on two special Air India flights in the night.
With the fresh arrivals, the total number of Indians who have returned from Libya, where the revolt against the Muammar Gaddafi government has turned violent and claimed over 1,000 lives so far, has reached around 600.
The first flight, a Boeing 747, carrying 291 Indian nationals, arrived in New Delhi around Saturday midnight. The second batch of 237 evacuated passengers, who were picked from Libyan capital Tripoli, arrived in an Airbus A330 early Sunday morning.
‘All 68 Indian nationals who had crossed over to Salloum (Egypt) reached Mumbai by GF-056 this morning,’ the external affairs ministry said in New Delhi.
A help desk at the airport at Mumbai has been set up by Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) in coordination with Maharashtra government and other state governments, to render all assistance to the passengers, including for further travel to their hometowns.
Two special Air India flights – AI 800 (Airbus 330) and AI 171 (Boeing 744) are on their way to Tripoli, and are expected to reach there later Monday. ‘They are likely to ferry back around 600 passengers late tonight,’ the ministry said.
