NEW DELHI: After weeks of desperately attempting to reach India from Iran, the first set of 101 medical students are set to arrive in Mumbai and Delhi on Sunday from Armenia via Dubai.
The hiccups in their plan continued till the last minute as the airline cancelled the first flight to Mumbai on Saturday just hours before they were to depart from their hotels in Armenia.
The students are returning fearing for their safety in light of the Israel-US attacks on Iran and the counter attacks.
Indian Embassy officials in Iran have escorted the students up to the bordering Armenia. “The 101 students have boarded FlyDubai flight FZ8124 from Yeravan International Airport at 1.25 pm (local time) and will leave Dubai by evening. . They will have a layover at Dubai and depart from there at 5.05 local time on Sunday by two different flights. The flight will reach Mumbai at 4.15 am while the other flight will reach Delhi at 9.55 am.” said Dr Mohammed Momin Khan, National Vice President of the All India Medical Students Association (AIMSA), who has been co-ordinating with them for weeks.
They are part of the 1,000-plus Indian students who were stuck there after over 2,000 students departed before the Israel-US attacks commenced on February 28.
A majority of them are from Jammu & Kashmir and were studying at Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.
Over 50 students who reach Delhi will leave for Jammu & Kashmir by buses on Sunday itself. “The exact break-up of students to Mumbai and Delhi is not clear,” Khan added.
Another set of students from Islamic Azad University and Iran University of Medical Sciences have reached Azerbaijan and they will leave from there to India.
