170 Indians evacuated by Indian govt in special flights from hurricane-hit St Maarten

Saint Martin/ New Delhi: As many as 170 Indians have been evacuated from the hurricane Irma-hit Saint Maarten and brought to the Caribbean island of Curacao by special flights chartered by the Indian government.

According to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Indian Envoy in Venezuela, Rahul Srivastava has informed that 60 other people were also evacuated along with Indians from the hurricane-hit place.

Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said in a tweet on Tuesday night that 110 Indians and Indian-origin evacuees were brought to Curacao from Sint Maarten.

In a series of tweets, Ms. Swaraj on Wednesday said the second flight carrying 60 Indians also landed in Curacao.

“Rahul Srivastava informed that second flight also landed in Curacao with 60 Indians and 30 others from St.Maarten,” the minister said on the micro-blogging site.

Saint Maarten, that is jointly administered by France and the Netherlands, was directly in hurricane Irma’s path. The island suffered widespread destruction after the storm made landfall last week and wreaked havoc on the Caribbean islands.