(Image source from: livemint.com)

At least three- hundred Keralites which also includes students have been stranded at the Kuala Lumpur airport as the flights have been cancelled to India due to the outbreak of the deadly novel coronavirus.

The people who have been stranded at the airport are said to be coming from various countries which include Philippines, Cambodia and Malaysia.

A student from Philippines has said that many people from various parts of the country have been stranded at the Kuala Lumpur airport and have been waiting for several hours at the transit airport.

Some of them have said in a video that they have been informed regarding the cancelation of the flights after they have got their boarding pass. The passengers have also said that the flights to Kerala, Bengaluru and Chennai have also been cancelled.

However, Jose K Mani who is the Rajya Sabha MP has said that he had got in touch with the officials of India and has also said that most of the passengers who have been stranded at the Kuala Lumpur airport are the citizens of India.

In another video, a woman was unable to control her tears which had rolled down her face as she has been pleading the authorities for airlifting them from Italy which is the second most affected place after China.

She added saying that’s he can only ask the governments of both the state as well as the central government regarding the information if they could be back to the country.

Another woman who has addressed herself as a student from Philippines has said that they have been stranded at the airport from several hours as the flights have been cancelled and that they are in a situation were they can neither go back to their country nor the government of India is prepared to take them. She has added saying that they have been trying to contact the officials in India.

The deadly novel coronavirus which has been officially named as COVID-19 has been first identified in the Wuhan city of China and was spreading all across the globe infecting people and also claiming lives of people. According to the records, it has been said that the infected several people and the number of infected people have climbed to 1,98,543 across the globe and the number of deaths caused due to the deadly virus is recorded to be 7,988 in number.

By Shrithika Kushangi