COVID-19 lockdown: Over 175 Malaysian citizens to fly back from Amritsar today

Over 175 Malaysian citizens, most of them of Indian origin, who were stranded in India due to the suspension of international flights, will leave for Malaysia later today.

The people are going back by a special Malindo Airlines flight sent by the Malaysian government in coordination with the Indian government and will be leaving from Amritsar Airport.

"We had come from Malaysia to visit Sri Harminder Sahib. India and Malaysia's government joined hands to rescue us. Today we are all going back to Malaysia. I would like to thank the Indian government, the Malaysian government, Khalsa Aid and Punjab Police for helping us out," said Jatinder Singh, one of the passengers.

Another passenger Joginder Kaur told ANI, "We would like to thank everyone, for all the help that was extended to us. The hotel owners and everybody else."

All international passenger flight operations will remain closed till April 14 in the wake of the three-week nationwide lockdown imposed in the light of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday reported a total of 1071 confirmed COVID-19 cases in India.