Bengaluru: Yemen has become a graveyard. And hundreds of people from Karnataka are stranded there. Some desperately trying to exit, and some are watching the situation with trepidation, unwilling to give up their livelihood easily.
About 3,500 Indians are said to be stranded in Yemen. The exact number of people from Karnataka in the Arab nation could not be verified.
Messages from Yemen to their relatives here said life is normal in Sanaa during the day but shelling and artillery fire punctuate the night.
Iranian-backed insurgents called the Huthi Rebels have been putting the govt. under fire for months, forcing Arab leaders to launch a full-scale attack till the renegades surrender.
Ravi Kumar, 39, an industrialist from Peenya, who went to Sanaa for a training programme on March 12, was to return on March 24, but got stranded as crisis broke out there. “Just now, I got to meet Indian embassy (officials). They said all the ready passengers may be taken by flight tomorrow (Monday) afternoon. But it is just a plan. Not 100% confirmed. They will by today or tomorrow morning,” Ravi texted from Sanaa late on Sunday evening. Ravi’s brother Shiva Kumar said, “He sent us photos of bombs falling not too far away from the hotel he is put up in. We are worried.” Yelahanka resident Mini Chandy said her husband Babu John, 50, was put up with 40 other Indians at an oil rig, Masila, about 600 km from Sanaa. Babu is an operations manager with a petroleum company.
“I spoke to Babu on Sunday evening. He said he is relatively safe as the conflict is limited to regions around Sanaa and Aden. They have contacted the Indian embassy. They are running short on supplies,” she said. Babu and others have decided to stay put for now and watch the situation. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has said the government will airlift Indians from Yemen after getting permission to fly from Sanaa for three hours a day. “The uncertainty about when and where the rescue flight would come is what is keeping us worried. No one is spelling out the plan of rescue. Other countries, including Pakistan, have already taken most of their citizens out of Yemen,” Shiva quoted Ravi as saying. Ravi went to Sanaa to conduct a skill development programme for a company there. He had booked his return ticket for March 24 but as there was no confirmation, the ticket was re-booked for March 26. By then, all air travel operations from Yemen were stopped. Ravi is in the hotel where he was put up when he landed in Sanaa. Several people from Kerala are in the same hotel, Shiva said.
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