Carrying the fifth batch of 297 passengers from strife-torn Sudan, Indian Navy vessel INS Tej left Port Sudan for Jeddah in early hours of Thursday.
"#OperationKaveri INS Teg departs from Port Sudan with 297 passengers. This is the fifth batch of stranded Indians enroute to Jeddah," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.
This brings the total number of Indians evacuated from Sudan so far to over 1000. Earlier on late Wednesday, the fourth batch of 136 stranded Indians had left Port Sudan for Jeddah onboard an IAF C-130J aircraft.
India has set up a transit facility at Jeddah and Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan is overseeing the evacuation mission from the Saudi Arabian city.
Meanwhile, Indian rescued from Sudan narrated their tales of ordeals and how they feared for their lives after the conflict broke out in the African nation. "It was like we were on a deathbed," Sukhvinder Singh from Haryana told PTI on his arrival at the Delhi airport from Saudi Arabia.
He was one of the 360 Indian nationals who returned home Wednesday night under India's 'Operation Kaveri' evacuation mission. "We were living in one area, confined to one room. It was like we were on a deathbed," he added,
Chhotu, a factory worker who hails from Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, was in a state of disbelief and exclaimed, "'Marke wapas aa gaya (have returned after almost dying)'. Now, I will never return to Sudan. I will do anything in this country but won't go back," he told PTI shortly after landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport's Terminal 3.
Tasmer Singh (60), an evacuee who hails from Hoshiarpur in Punjab, described his experience during the ongoing strife as horrifying. "We were like a dead body, roaming in a small house without power, water. We never imagined that we will face this kind of a situation in our lives but thank God, we are alive," he said.
Sukhwinder Singh, the engineer, also narrated how difficult it was to travel during the strife in Sudan. "We contacted the Indian embassy and buses for around 200 people were arranged. A road trip was very risky. Only God knows how we reached Port Sudan," he said.
He said the warring groups can shoot anybody "depending on their mood". "It depends on the mood of the individual. If we say we are Indians, they let us go," the Faridabad native said.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan met with the family of the Kerala man who was killed after a stray bullet hit him in Sudan. The minister said he had ensured the safe travel of the family to Kochi.
