MAHABUBNAGAR: In a major relief to over 140 students, who were stranded at Changi Airport in Singapore for the past couple of days, a special flight was arranged by the Indian government to ferry them back to Mumbai on Thursday.
The students, most of whom were pursuing medicine and other programmes in the Philippines, were asked by the Government of Philippines on March 17 to leave the country within 72 hours, as it was going to shut down the Ninoi Aquino International Airport in Manila.
The students, who scrambled to leave the country via Malaysia and Singapore, were stopped at the Changi Airport by the Singapore government owing to the fear of COVID-19 spreading in the country.
Around 140 students, including 30 students from Telangana and 13 from Andhra Pradesh, who reached Changi Airport in Singapore were asked by the Singaporean authorities to go back to Malaysia, from where they had boarded the flight. As they could not do so, they spent the last couple of days at the airport lobby.
Worried over their situation, the Telangana and AP governments brought the matter to the notice of the Central government and the Indian Embassy in Singapore. On Thursday, they were flown back to Mumbai from Singapore in a special flight, where they are expected to be quarantined before being allowed to go home.
“We are grateful to MP Kotagiri Sridhar from Andhra Pradesh, Minister for External Affairs Jayashankar, Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao, Minister Srinivas Goud, Jadcharla MLA C Laxma Reddy, the officials at the Indian Embassy in Singapore and the media for highlighting our plight and ensuring our safe return to our home,” YJ Angel Sushanthika, GN Sushma and Shwitha told the Express over phone before boarding the flight to Mumbai.