Cabinet congratulates Air India crew who were part of special flights that evacuated 647 Indians from Wuhan

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday congratulated crew members of the two Air India special flights that evacuated 647 Indians from the coronavirus-struck Chinese city of Wuhan, saying they did not express any fear and gave primacy to their duties.

"Air crew spent around 12 hours with these people who have returned. Anyone else would have got scared and said 'why will I go to a place where there is so much infection and if I go there to bring people back, I may get infection'. No one said any such thing," Union environment minister Prakash Javdekar said after a Cabinet meeting here.

"Air India's pilots and remaining crews gave primacy to their duties and did this work happily. Therefore, the Cabinet today congratulated them and everyone welcomed them as a very important work has been done by Air India," he added.

On Saturday, 324 Indians were brought back from Wuhan by the first special flight, while another batch of 323 Indians and seven Maldivians were evacuated from the Chinese city on Sunday through the second special flight.

Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani said,"Union Cabinet's appreciation for the staff of Air India who travelled to Wuhan to evacuate Indians is indeed heart warming for the entire Air India family and would go a long way in inspiring Air Indians to keep going beyond the call of duty in serving the nation. Jai Hind."

In the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak in Hubei province, India has put restrictions on the movement of people to and from China, like many other countries, as part of precautionary measures to contain the spread of the virus.

The death toll in China because of the virus has gone up to 490 while the number of confirmed cases has touched 24,300.