Keralites stranded in Yemen seek help

Thiruvananthapuram, March 29

A group of stranded Keralites in strife-torn Yemen has desperately sought help from Indian authorities for their evacuation from that country.

Talking to a Malayalam news channel today from Sana’a, a person, identified as Jido, said a group of 60 persons, including women and children, were now staying in a flat in great fear and anxiety as frequent explosions and gun battles were occurring in and around the area.

“No one has gone out of the flat for the past five days.

We are living here in fear. Anything can happen, we want urgent steps from authorities to rescue us from here,” Jido said.

“Our food stock and water may last for two more days,” he said, adding, “power supply is on now, but we do not know when it will stop.”

“The only communication with outside world now for us was through internet. If that also fails, we will be cut off from the rest of world,” he said.

He said he had contacted Keralite nurses working in nearby areas and found that most of the hospitals were now defunct.

“Only one hospital is working in our area,” he said, adding that “we cannot go there also due to violence in the area’.

Jido expressed concern over the “delay” in sending ship to evacuate them and said they had learnt that Pakistan had already sent a ship and rescued their nationals.

Visuals taken and sent by Jido, aired by the channel, showed graphic details of a powerful explosion and persons getting shot in a terrifying gun battle on a street. — PTI