NEW DELHI, MARCH 9
The Government of India has sent a special IAF C-17 Globemaster at 8 pm IST to the Iranian capital Tehran on Monday. A military transport aircraft, the C-17 Globemaster is being used to evacuate Indians stranded in coronavirus-affected Iran. At present, about 2,000 Indians are living in Iran, a Defence release said.
The aircraft took off from Hindon Airport in Ghaziabad. A medical team and support staff are on board the flight. It will return with evacuated Indians on Tuesday, March 10 early morning.
The Indian Air Force has a fleet of 11 C-17 Globemaster IIIs. The largest military aircraft in the Indian Air Force’s inventory, C-17 Globemaster is also used by the US Air Force as its primary strategic lift aircraft for the global transportation of both troops and equipment.
This will be the second such evacuation initiated by the Indian government in the last two weeks. As many as 76 Indians and 36 foreign nationals were brought back via an IAF flight from Wuhan city in China on February 27. Similarly, a Mahan airplane was used to bring back swab samples from Iran to India on March 6, the release added.
On Monday, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan told media outlets that the Government of India has sent scientists and mobile-laboratories to Iran. These scientists are waiting for customs clearance to start working. Right now, we are bringing samples from there and when the report of that sample will come negative, we will bring them (Indians in Iran) back, said Dr Harsh Vardhan.
As of March 9, the Indian Health Ministry has confirmed 40 active cases of Covid-19 in the country. A number of those infected with the virus have travel history from Iran where coronavirus-related deaths have crossed the 230-mark with 43 new cases being detected on Monday itself. While the total cases have surpassed 7,100, the government of Iran is struggling to get a handle on the outbreak.
Iran’s judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi on Monday revealed that the government has decided to free approximately 70,000 prisoners. owing to the Covid-19 outbreak. This development comes at a time when the number of positive cases of coronavirus crossed 110,000 across the globe.
