IAF’s C-17 Globemaster Aircraft Brings Back 58 Stranded Indian Nationals From Coronavirus Hit Iran

Indian Air Force (IAF)'s C-17 Globemaster aircraft has successfully brought back 58 stranded Indians from the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) hit Iran on Tuesday (10 March), reports Times of India.

This marks the second such evacuation carried out by IAF's C-17 Globemaster in the last two weeks.

The aircraft was sent to Iran on Monday (9 March) evening and it returned to India today. The aircraft landed at the Hindon Airport in Ghaziabad of Uttar Pradesh (UP) from where the passengers have been taken to a medical facility. This marks the first batch of Indians who have been brought back from Iran.

The development was made public by Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar who took to social media platform Twitter to share the development by tweeting, "The IAF aircraft has landed. Mission completed. On to the next."

Jaishankar also appreciated the efforts taken by the officials from Indian Embassy in Iran and the Indian medical team who have been operating under challenging conditions. Also, expressing gratitude to Iranian authorities for assistance, Jaishankar said that the work is already on to bring back other Indians stranded in Iran.

It should be noted that as many as 237 have died in Iran of the COVID-19 outbreak which has infected over 7,000 others.