IAF planes airlift 400 Indian nationals

More than 400 Indian nationals have been evacuated from cyclone-hit Sri Lanka on Sunday on board special flights of the Indian Air Force. IAF planes have carried people to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala and to Hindon, near Delhi.

Additional flights are expected to land early on Monday carrying more people. On main land Sri Lanka, IAF helicopters have carried out a challenging rescue and airlifted several foreigners, including one from Pakistan and three from Bangladesh

Meanwhile, an IAF plane has also reached the cyclone hit nation with a ‘Bhishm capsule’ — a military name for fully operational mobile hospital. A medical team was sent alongside. On the evacuation, IAF said two planes started the evacuating people from Colombo. The IL-76 was despatched to Thiruvananthapuram which is a major aviation hub and evacuated people can take connecting flights back to their destinations. A C-130J is enroute to Hindon and another one will follow.