39 Sri Lankans safely evacuated from Yemen

Thirty-nine Sri Lankans have been safely evacuated from Yemen with the help of the Chinese embassy and will be transported to Bahrain, the foreign ministry said here on Saturday.

Eight Sri Lankans on Friday were safely evacuated from the war-ravaged Arab nation and had reached Djibouti by sea, an official from the foreign ministry said.

"The Bahrain government has informed Colombo that they will assist in sending back these Sri Lankan citizens. We are closely in touch with the Chinese embassy and also the Bahraini government in safely getting our citizens back home," Xinhua quoted the official.

According to the data received by the foreign ministry, 40 Sri Lankans are still trapped in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, while 11 people are in Hodeidah.

The government said this week it is making arrangements to evacuate at least 100 of its citizens stranded in Yemen as fighting escalates between the Houthi rebels and the Saudi military forces.

The government has already requested China, India and the UN to help evacuate the Sri Lankan citizens trapped in Yemen.