Indians from virus-hit cruise ship in Japan brought back home

After a month of an ordeal, Indians from coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship are back home.

An Air India flight on Thursday (27) brought back 119 Indians and five foreigners who were on board the ship docked off Yokohama in Japan.

The foreigners included two from Sri Lanka and one each from Nepal, South Africa and Peru.

“Air India flight has just landed in Delhi from Tokyo, carrying 119 Indians & 5 nationals from Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa&Peru who were quarantined onboard the #DiamondPrincess due to #COVID19. Appreciate the facilitation of Japanese authorities. Thank you @airindiain once again,” India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar wrote on Twitter.

All the evacuees will undergo a 14-day quarantine at a medical facility set-up by the Indian Army in Manesar.

Three Indian crew members did not board the special flight and conveyed their wish to continue their stay onboard the cruise ship to complete the period of extended quarantine put in place by the government of Japan, a government statement said.

Out of the total 138 Indian nationals originally on board the Diamond Princess, 16 Indian crew members have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) and are receiving necessary medical care and treatment in Japan.

They were among the 3,711 people on board the Diamond Princess ship when it docked at the Yokohama port, near Tokyo, on February 3.

The ship was quarantined after a passenger who disembarked last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the disease.

Earlier, India had evacuated around 650 Indians from Wuhan in two Air India flights.

"In all 723 Indian nationals and 43 foreign nationals have been evacuated from Wuhan, China in these three flights," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.