'Indian nurses lodged in old building in Mosul'

A group of Keralite nurses moved in a vehicle by rebels from their hospital in Tikrit in Iraq are lodged in an old building near a hospital in Mosul and are safe, according to family members of a nurse in Kottayam.

Though they are lodged in a godown-like hall without power, their takers have treated them well, mother of one of the nurses said.

"My daughter called me around 10.45 pm on Thursday night and said the group had been accommodated in a hall in Mosul. It appears to be part of a hospital. She could not speak more since the charge of her mobile phone was low. She told me not to get panicky if she did not call home frequently as she was not sure if there would be a facility to get the phone charged," said Sobha, whose daughter is one of the nurses of the group.

Sobha and her husband Sasikumar, like parents of other nurses from different parts of Kerala, said they are praying for safe return of their children and pinned hope on the efforts being made by the Centre and the state for their evacuation without delay.

But some of them complained that there was delay on the part of the Centre to intervene effectively in the matter.

They claimed that as soon as Tikrit came under the control of rebels a few days back, the nurses had informed Indian embassy in Baghdad about their willingness to give up the job and return home.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his senior colleagues are in Delhi and would be meeting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj again to take stock of the situation.

Concern over the safe evacuation of the nurses had soared in the last couple days.

According to non-resident Keralites agency NORKA Roots, there are 46 nurses working in a hospital in Tikrit and taking them safely to the nearest airport is a big task.

Image: Schoolchildren in New Delhi pray for the wellbeing of stranded Indians in Iraq

Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters