Requesting Indian Govt. to rescue the Crew members & others who are not infected with Coronavirus in Dimond princes… https://t.co/gjnnduoUG1 — Binay Kumar Sarkar (@BinayKumarSark5) 1581339361000

(With inputs from agencies)

NEW DELHI: In a desperate appeal for help, the Indian crew members on board a cruise ship quarantined off Japan due to diagnosis of coronavirus cases requested the Modi government to "urgently" bring them back home safely.In a video message on Twitter, crew member Binay Kumar Sarkar said that all members on board are very scared even as new cases of coronvirus are being detected every day."We are very scared now. This is the fifth day of quarantine. As many as 66 crew members have been diagnosed with coronavirus but there hasn't been any confirmation on the official number yet," Sarkar said.Sarkar, who can be seen with five other crew members, appealed to the Indian government and the UN to segregate the Indians on board on an urgent basis."I appeal to the government of India and even the United Nations to urgently segregate us. Only 500 samples have been taken so far and there are over 3,700 crew members and passengers on board the ship ... they are checking only those with fever over 37.5°C. If Japan is unable to handle it, they should seek outside help," he said.Requesting the Modi government to pull them out of the crisis, Sarkar said that 90% of the crew members have not been affected yet and must be rescued urgently before it's "too late"."Please save us somehow as soon as possible. What's the point if something happens (to us)...I want to request the government of India and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi-ji, please segregate us and bring us back home safely," he said.Sarkar revealed that 168 Indian crew members and passengers are on board the ship.Cruise ship Diamond Princess, carrying 3,711 people, had arrived at the Japanese coast early last week and was quarantined after a passenger who de-boarded last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the novel virus on the ship.Around 60 people tested positive of the virus on Monday, taking the total number of those infected on the ship to 130. Authorities had initially tested nearly 300 people when the ship arrived at the Japanese coast.The Japanese health ministry said on Monday that around 600 people on board urgently needed medication, and around half received supplies over the weekend, it said.According to an AFP report, people on board the ship are facing difficulty due to the quarantine measures, particularly those in windowless interior cabins and others who require medication for various chronic conditions.The death toll in the coronavirus outbreak in China has gone up to 908 with 97 new fatalities reported mostly in the worst-affected Hubei province and the confirmed cases of infection crossing 40,000.