COIMBATORE: As many as 113 Sri Lankan nationals, mostly students, returned to their native from Coimbatore International Airport on a special flight, on Sunday morning.
The flight was arranged by the Lankan government through its Embassy officials, based on the requests put forth by the students who were studying at various institutions in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The students allegedly showed interest to return to their native after knowing about the prolonged delay in reopening of colleges due to the spread of COVID-19. Sources state that they were also facing difficulties in getting food.
Apart from them, families that were staying at Erode, Namakkal, Salem and Vellore districts and in various parts of Kerala also headed to Sri Lanka at 11.10 am on Sri Lankan Airlines on Sunday after they underwent a thorough health check-up.
Sources said that all the passengers reached the airport using their private vehicles after getting the required passes from district collectors concerned.
"We checked their health and none of the Sri Lanka nationals displayed COVID-19 symptoms," said an official.