City
Epaper

Wuhan-returned B'desh pilots barred from other countries

By IANS | Updated: February 4, 2020 12:55 IST

The pilots of a special flight that brought back 312 Bangladeshis from China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, were being barred from other countries over fears of spreading the fatal disease, a media report said.

Open in App

The situation was complicating plans to evacuate another 171 Bangladeshis stranded in the locked-down Chinese city, bdnews24 said in the report citing Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam as saying on Monday.

He made the remarks after a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on World Health Organization's declaration of a global health emergency over the virus which has killed over 425 people in China and has spread to 25 countries.

"We are having problems sending out our aircraft. The pilots of the plane which flew to China are not being allowed to enter other countries.

"We have to see if we can charter another plane as that will be the best option. Our first preference is to charter a Chinese plane," Islam added.

Amid mounting fears over the outbreak, 312 Bangladeshi students and researchers were brought back from Wuhan onboard a Boeing 777-300 aircraft on February 1, said the bdnews24 report.

They are currently undergoing a 14-day quarantine at the Ashkona Hajj Camp in Dhaka.

Among them, eight were found to have high body temperatures and subsequently hospitalised.

But they have since tested negative for the coronavirus, according to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research.

In South Asia, India has confirmed three cases of the coronavirus, while Sri Lanka and Nepal have reported one case each.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: chinaKhandker Anwarul IslamboeingIans
Open in App

Related Stories

International'Illegal Military Operations': China Accuses US and Israel of Strait of Hormuz Crisis

NationalDelhi Government Orders Removal of 2.5 Lakh Chinese CCTV Cameras Over Security Concerns

InternationalChina: Four Dead, Nine Injured After Explosion at Highway Tunnel Construction Site in Chongqing

InternationalChina: Casualties Feared After Bulldozer Runs Over Crowd in Beijing Market (Watch Video)

MumbaiMumbai: DRI Seizes Restricted Goods Worth ₹9.25 Crore; Two Firm Owners Arrested

International Realted Stories

InternationalIran envoy to India Mohammad Fathali dubs ongoing war "Strategic failure for US-Israel"

International"IIM Raipur made a name for itself": EAM Jaishankar at 15th convocation

InternationalPakistan: Protest erupts in Sindh amid fuel price surge

InternationalProjectile hits near Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility; kills one person

International'Iranians playing smart chess game', 'Trump living in fantasy land': Former diplomat K.P. Fabian