With various departments doing their bit for those evacuated from strife-torn Yemen, the Railways played its own role by providing free tickets to 75 of them for travel from Mumbai, where they landed, to their destinations across the country.
The 75 evacuees were received by railway officials at the Mumbai International Airport in the wee hours of yesterday and taken by bus to the Lokmanya Tilak and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus stations, a Railway Ministry official said.
They were served refreshments at the high-class waiting halls and confirmed tickets were given to them for travel to their destinations like Gorakhpur (UP), Howrah (West Bengal), Muzaffarpur and Chapra (both Bihar), Thiruvanathapuram (Kerala), Kanyakumari, Madurai, Chennai (all in Tamil Nadu) and Hyderabad, he said.
The support from the Railways came after Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu directed the General Managar in Mumbai to render all possible help to the evacuees from Yemen.
Prabhu later hailed the help extended by the Central Railway. “Great efforts by @Central_Railway for Yemen Evacuees! Assistance provided. Transport, refreshments, help for onward journey,” he tweeted.
The evacuees were brought from Yemen by Indian Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster and they included nurses and workers.
Yemen has been witnessing fierce battle between Saudi-led coalition and Shiite rebels, who have battled their way into the heart of Yemen’s main southern city Aden where fighting raged in the former stronghold of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has fled overseas.