Indian Navy ensure comfortable stay for Yemen evacuees

Indian Navy personnel sought to ensure a comfortable stay for the second batch of 306 Indians they evacuated from the strife-torn Yemen late Thursday and took to neighbouring Djibouti in Africa, an official said here on Friday.

The Indians - 251 men, 38 women and 17 children - were picked up by INS Sumitra from Yemen's Al Hodeidah and set off to Djibouti, across the Gulf of Aden.

"During the stay in Al Hodeidah, the ship's crew reported that shelling could be heard in the city. All necessary precautions were taken to cater for emerging situations that may arise due to the ongoing skirmish in the vicinity," said the official.

Moved by the plight of the Indians who have undergone great agony and faced threats to their lives, the navy ensured a comfortable stay for the evacuees.

Extensive arrangements were made by the ship's crew, even at the cost of their own comfort to ensure all evacuees were well looked after. The crew vacated their living quarters to accommodate the women, elderly and children.

Aiming to evacuate maximum numbers, males were put up on the upper deck under the cover of marquees.

Though the ship's galley is equipped to cater to only 100, two-three cooks worked round the clock to provide hot meals for all evacuees, using the ship's rations.

As soon as the evacuees arrived on board, the ship's medical officers provided medicare to those in need, specially pregnant women and elderly people.

Only an offshore patrol vessel engaged in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, INS Sumitra has exceeded its call of duty to provide relief to the stranded Indians in Yemen since March 31.

In the first instance, it sailed across 349 Indians from Aden to Djibouti from where they were brought back to India through the Indian Air Force's C17 Globemarster III aircraft.

Intensifying the rescue efforts, INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash left Mumbai on Monday. Two Shipping Corporation of India vessels from Kochi also are expected to reach the Gulf of Aden on Saturday.