india

Updated: Mar 13, 2020 08:40 IST

Around 200 Indians stranded in Iran are scheduled to land at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) Friday afternoon.

An official from the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said the flight will land around 1pm, following which they will be flown to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan where they will be quarantined for 14 days.

This comes after external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Thursday said that their initial focus is to bring back stranded Indian pilgrims.

There are around 6,000 Indians stranded in Iran, which include 1,100 pilgrims and 300 students, all of whom tested negative for coronavirus on Wednesday.

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“The Indian embassy in Iran called us for the test. After the travellers tested negative, they said they would mail us our mandatory certificates declaring us fit. However, we haven’t received them yet,” said a Mumbai resident in Iran who is expected to board the flight.

Sources close to the development said screening of these passengers will be conducted in an isolation bay. “These passengers will arrive via Iran Air aircraft but will be flown to Jaisalmer on an Air India special flight that will be parked next to the Iran Air aircraft,” said the source.

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“As per the government’s latest advisory, all the passengers from Iran will be quarantined for 14 days. Jaisalmer has a large spacious centre, specially made for this purpose and is on defence land. The Army will take over immediately after the passengers land and take them to the quarantine centres,” said the source.

A ministry official said that a few Iranians from the city could be sent to Tehran via the same aircraft.