Of the 54 expatriates with origins from Andhra Pradesh currently stuck in violence-hit Sudan, 34 of them are safe, AP Non-Resident Telugu Society (APNRTS) president Medapati Venkat has said.
Officials of APNRTS, a government-run society, confirmed that the 34 expatriates have reached Port Sudan by the coast of the Red Sea and are expected to proceed further to a safe place.
Venkat said efforts were underway to reach out to the remaining 20 people and noted that they could be 30 kilometres away from the conflict zone.
Venkat said they have provided all the information and also wrote to the Indian Embassy twice to ensure the safety of the expatriates.
"We could not get in touch with them due to telecom signal issues," PTI quoted Venkat as saying. APNRTS has set up a special helpline desk to identify natives of Andhra Pradesh in Sudan.
READ | Operation Kaveri: 3rd Batch Of 135 Indians Carried By IAF Aircraft From Port Sudan Arrives In Jeddah
Meanwhile, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed officials to take steps to bring the expatriates with origins in Andhra Pradesh. The chief minister asked the officials to coordinate with the Central government and make travel arrangements to bring back stranded Telugus safely. The CM also asked them to ensure that they were sent to their native places on their return to India.
The Indian government is running Operation Kaveri to evacuate stranded citizens from Sudan, which has been hit by severe violence due to clashes between the country's forces and paramilitary force RAF.
An IAF C-130J aircraft with 135 Indians from Port Sudan arrived in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah early Wednesday morning. Another IAF aircraft with 148 Indian citizens landed in Jeddah later in the day. This was the third such batch evacuated from war-torn Sudan under Operation Kaveri.
The deadly fighting between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary group for the past 12 days has reportedly left around 400 people dead.
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