Iran's Mahan Air to bring blood samples of stranded Indians, take back Iranians

New Delhi : A flight from Iran has been scheduled to land in India on Friday night with blood sample of 300 stranded Indians in Iran due to coronavirus fear. The flight will be taking back Iran residents in India.

The ferry flight cleared by India’s aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation or DGCA will land within 24 hours in Delhi.

The blood samples will be tested in India and the Indians will be brought back only after the result is found negative to the coronavirus.

There are about 2000 Indians mostly from Kashmir’s Kargil area there. They had gone to visit a religious shrine in Iran but were stranded after regular commercial flights were suspended between the two countries following the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

In the Middle East region, Iran has emerged as the epicenter of the disease. More than 107 people have been reported dead in Iran due to coronavirus.

Authorities are in touch with their Iranian counterparts to launch operations for bringing the Indians back, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday.

A team of Indian doctors has also been sent to Iran to ensure that the stranded Indians are thoroughly examined before they are brought back.

Iran has said it would keep schools and universities closed until early April. It has already suspended major cultural and sporting events and reduced working hours across the country.

The Islamic republic also reported 591 additional confirmed cases of the COVID-19 illness, bringing the total to 3513 infected.