Harbhajan applauds Air India for rescuing Indians from Wuhan

India spinner Harbhajan Singh on Saturday applauded state-owned carrier Air India for rescuing Indians from coronavirus affected Chinese city - Wuhan.

The first flight carrying 324 Indian on board landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here at 9:26 am on Saturday. Of the 324 passengers, three were minors and 211 were students.

Meanwhile, 95 of the 324 passengers have been taken from the Airport to Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Chhawla Camp in Delhi, for medical observation at the camp.

"The national carrier @airindiain once again comes to the rescue - this time to evacuate Indians from Wuhan, the site of the outbreak of coronavirus. This mission begins today with a Jumbo 747 operating between Delhi and Wuhan. Jai Hind," Harbhajan tweeted.

The second Air India special flight will depart on Saturday afternoon from New Delhi to Wuhan for the evacuation of Indians stranded in the coronavirus-hit Chinese city, national carrier's spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar said.

The aircraft will depart at around 12:50 pm. The team of doctors on the aircraft will be the same as on the first, while the crew has changed, Kumar told ANI, adding that the flight operations will be still led by Air India's Director of Operations Captain Amitabh Singh.

The virus originated in Wuhan, China, in December and has since then spread to various cities around the world. China has imposed quarantine and travel restrictions, affecting the movement of 56 million people in more than a dozen cities, amid fears that the transmission rate will accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year.

Health authorities around the world are taking action to prevent a global pandemic as the virus continues to spread, with cases reported in Australia, France, the United States and seven Asian countries besides China.