Iraq crisis: Flight carrying nurses lands in Mumbai, to leave for Kerala soon

Mumbai: A special Air India flight carrying 46 Indian nurses set free by Sunni militants ISIS in strife-torn Iraq and 137 others arrived in Mumbai today. The flight carrying 183 Indian nationals from Erbil landed in Mumbai at 8:43 am and has made a ’technical halt’ in Mumbai for refuelling and catering supplies. [caption id=“attachment_1604191” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The flight will leave for Kochi at 9:55 am and reach the city at 11:55 am, Air India officials said. The flight will then leave for Hyderabad at 12:55 pm and arrive in the city at 1425 hours. The flight’s last destination would be Delhi where it will arrive at 1740 hours, the officials said. Besides the nurses, the plane is also carrying 137 other Indian nationals, including 70 from Kirkuk in the northern part of Iraq. An Air India spokesperson in Kochi said there are 183 passengers, including 23 crew members and three government officials, including a joint-secretary level IFS officer and an IAS woman officer from Kerala on board the flight. According to information provided by Air India from Erbil, forty-six nurses will get down at Kochi and around 100 other passengers are bound for Hyderabad. The ordeal of the nurses, who were working at a hospital in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, began when a swift ISIS (Islamic State for Iraq and Syria) offensive was launched on 9 June. The nurses were moved out on Thursday against their will and detained in the militant-held city of Mosul, 250 km from Tikrit. The Erbil International airport is about 80 km from Mosul. PTI