Mishap inside Mangaluru Airport claims life of CISF personnel Aslam Khan

Mangaluru, May 8: Dr Arathi Krishna, former deputy chairman of Karnataka NRI Forum, today called on Karnataka chief secretary Vijaya Bhaskar and urged him to exert pressure on the Centre through chief minister to expedite evacuation of Kannadigas stuck in Saudi Arabia amidst covid-19 lockdown. 

She also conveyed the message from labourers in Gulf countries requesting for free quarantine facility upon their arrival. Positively responding to the demand, Mr Bhaskar said that free quarantine facility will be arranged at BSF base in Bengaluru apart from paid quarantine facility in different hotels and guest houses.

Dr Arathi Krishna told coastaldigest.com that she also spoke to the officials in-charge of Gulf in the Ministry of External Affairs  and requested them to take necessary steps to add more special flights from Gulf countries to Karnataka. 

The officials have promised to consider operating flight from Riyadh to Mangaluru via Dammam in the second wave of evacuation, the schedule of which is expected to be announced in a few days, she said.

Bengaluru, May 11: As many as 343 Indians returned to Bengaluru from London by a special Air India flight on the fifth day of 'Vande Bharat Mission' on Monday. They arrived at the Kempegowda international airport at 4.40 am.

All passengers were found to be asymptomatic on arrival except one 27-year-old woman who had had an incomplete abortion and had vomiting on arrival. She has been shifted to KC General Hospital in Malleshwaram.

Dr Prabhu Dev Gowda, an officer on duty for COVID-19 screening at Kempegowda International Airport, said, "A 27-year-old woman has had an incomplete abortion of her three-month-old foetus before taking the flight from London. She was vomiting on arrival. She was shifted to Aster CMI Hospital for emergency care.”

“Thereafter, she and her husband were shifted to KC General Hospital in Malleshwaram. They will be in isolation there. Since there is nobody to look after her, we have to let the husband accompany her to the hospital where they will be in quarantine."

The patient was famished and was provided a few idlis on arrival, he added.

After she recovers at the hospital, the couple will be shifted to a hotel. As per protocol, their throat swabs were taken for COVID-19 testing too. All passengers whether symptomatic or not are being tested for COVID-19.

Dr Manjula Devi, District Health Officer, Bengaluru Rural district said that all passengers were found to be asymptomatic on arrival except this woman who is being treated as a non-COVID-19 emergency.

Ajith Rai, Devanahalli Tehsildar told DH, "All passengers have chosen to go to hotels over government hostels. We're yet to tabulate how many have chosen budget hotels, three-star and five-star hotels. Twenty of them are still here. The process is on."

Mangaluru, Jan 21: Operations at Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) are normal, a day after security agencies detonated a bomb recovered from the airport in a controlled explosion, an official said on Tuesday.

"All operations are normal at Mangluru International Airport. Everything is normal," told the airport director V.V. Rao to IANS.

Rao said even on Monday, there was no interruption to the airport operations, except for that one recalled IndiGo flight to Bengaluru.

"As the explosive was isolated and taken away from the airport, there was no disturbance to flights, except one Bengaluru-bound IndiGo flight which suffered a few hours delay and took off later," said Rao.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened at the airport.

Mangluru north assistant commissioner of police Belliappa told media that the police are still on the hunt for the culprits who planted the bomb at the airport.

"We are trying to trace the culprits, we got the footage of the suspects," said Belliappa, highlighting that the police are yet to find the name, age and other details of the suspects.

At Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), the number of police personnel has been increased in a bid to tighten the security and 24 hour searching of vehicles is underway.

"We have set up two check posts on the way to the airport and randomly checking vehicles," told Devanahalli assistant commissioner of police Subramanya to media.

All Karnataka airports, including Hubballi and Belagavi, are on high alert.