'Please Save Us': Aboard Coronavirus-Hit Japan Cruise Ship, Over 100 Indians Urge PM Modi For Rescue

The cruise ship has been quarantined in the city after it was found that a passenger who de-boarded in Hong Kong in January was found to be carrying the virus.

In this screengrab of a SOS video Binay Kumar Sarkar (R) along with other Indian crew members of the quarantined cruise liner Diamond Princess, requests Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save them and the passenger.

New Delhi: Over 100 Indian crew members on board a Japanese cruise ship - diganosed with the deadly Coronavirus - has made an anxious appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of India (GoI) to rescue them in a Facebook video. The cruise, called Diamond Princess, was carrying around 3,700 people when it arrived in Japan's Yokohama last week. The cruise ship has been quarantined in the city after it was found that a passenger who de-boarded in Hong Kong in January was found to be carrying the virus. As per recent report shared by the Japan  Health Ministry, another 65 people aboard the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship moored off Japan have been diagnosed with novel Coronavirus bringing the total number of known infections to 135. "Test results from 103 people have now come out and 65 of them are confirmed positive for the new coronavirus," the ministry said in a statement. In a video released by Crew member Binay Kumar Sarkar, it was understood that about 60 passengers and crew have been tested positive for the virus on the ship. Sarkar also requested the Indian government and the United Nations to take cognisance of the matter. "Out of 3,700 people on-board, they have only checked 500 samples for coronavirus. No crew member has been tested yet,” Sarkar said in the video urging the Indian Government and the UN to segregate those infected from those who are healthy. "I request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to please save us and send us home safe and sound as promised," Sarkar pleaded. The cruise ship operator said 66 people had been newly diagnosed, mostly Japanese, but there were also Australians, Filipinos, a Canadian, a Briton and a Ukrainian. There was no immediate clarity on the discrepancy between that figure and the health ministry. When the boat arrived off Japan, authorities initially tested nearly 300 people for the virus of the 3,711 on board, gradually evacuating dozens who were infected to local medical facilities. The number of passengers and crew on board has since declined to 3,622, the ministry official said.

Many Indian crew & some Indian passengers are onboard the cruise ship #DiamondPrincess quarantined off Japan due to #Coronavirus (#nCoV). In this context, any query please contact First Secretary (Consular) @IndianEmbTokyo at fscons.tokyo@mea.gov.in @CPVIndia @MEAIndia @PMOIndia

— India in Japanインド大使館 (@IndianEmbTokyo) February 10, 2020

Indian Embassy in Tokyo on Monday tweeted the information about the Indians on the ship. "Many Indian crew & some Indian passengers are on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess quarantined off Japan due to Coronavirus (nCoV)," it tweeted. Though it did not a specific number of Indians on the ship. "In this context, any query please contact First Secretary (Consular) @IndianEmbTokyo at fscons.tokyo@mea.gov.in @CPVIndia @MEAIndia @PMOIndia," it said. The Japan Health Ministry today said that around 600 people on board urgently needed medication, and around half received supplies over the weekend. There are 26 confirmed cases of the new virus in Japan apart from the infections on board the ship, among them citizens evacuated from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak emerged.