558 Malaysians stranded in India brought home today

Five hundred and fifty eight Malaysians flew home safely today from Chennai and Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) in three special Air Asia aircraft, said Deputy Foreign Minister, Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar.

In a statement, he said 186 Malaysians arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) from Chennai at 5.50 am via flight AK-013.

Another 372 people returned from Trichy through flights AK-22 and AK-28 at 5 am and 6.40 am respectively.

“The three Air Asia flights which brought home the Malaysians were fully sponsored by MIC. So far MIC has assisted the government to bring home 1,119 Malaysians stranded in India including three infants,” the statement said.

Kamaruddin also said all Malaysians who returned have to go through voluntary quarantine for 14 days as stipulated by the Health Ministry.

He said as at today, there are 1,679 Malaysians still stranded in India and the government is stepping up efforts to bring them home.

Meanwhile, Kamaruddin said 109 Malaysians stranded in Cambodia is expected to return at 9 pm tonight via MAS flight MH763.

In this regard, six Cambodians who were stranded in Malaysia would be going home via MH762, which was arriving in Cambodia at 5.30 pm.

“The effort is the result of the cooperation between Wisma Putra and the Cambodian government to looking the plight of citizens stranded each other’s country,” he said.

In the meantime, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Presidential Council is urging the government to obtain the approval of Indian government to bring back Malaysians who are still stranded in the country.

In a statement today, PH said the government has to talk with the Indian government on the matter.

“The situation was reported to be getting more complicated as the Indian government has imposed a three-week lockdown from yesterday.

“It is learned there were efforts to organise chartered flights to bring Malaysians who are stranded in Cochin (Kerala), Trichy and Chennai (Tamil Nadu) home,” the statement said. - BERNAMA