Air Force plane with 246 Indians evacuated from war-torn Sudan lands in Mumbai

An Indian Air Force aircraft carrying 246 Indians, who were evacuated from war-torn Sudan, landed in Mumbai on Thursday (April 27).

The plane, which took off from Jeddah around 11 am IST, landed in Mumbai at around 3.30 pm, an official said.

“Our efforts to swiftly send Indians back home from Jeddah is paying. 246 Indians will be in Mumbai soon, travelling by IAF C17 Globemaster. Happy to see them off at Jeddah airport,” tweeted Union minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan, minutes before the plane left for Mumbai.

Also read: Sudan situation highly volatile; focus is to ensure safety of Indians: Official

Under Operation Kaveri, India has been taking its citizens in buses from conflict zones of Khartoum and other troubled areas to Port Sudan from where they are being taken to the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah in Indian Air Force’s heavy-lift transport aircraft and Indian Navy ships.

The distance between Khartoum and Port Sudan is around 850 km and the travel time by bus varies from 12 hours to 18 hours considering the prevailing situation and whether the vehicles are operating during the day or night.

Also read: Operation Kaveri: 670 Indians evacuated from Sudan; first batch of 360 passengers reaches Delhi