44 nurses from Libya to reach Kerala on Tuesday

The first batch of 44 Keralite nurses, stranded in strife torn Libya, would arrive in India on Tuesday. The nurses, working in various hospitals in Libya, had reached Tunisia, from where they will be reaching Dubai to take the scheduled flight to Kochi and arrive Tuesday morning, chief executive officer of Non-Resident Keralite Affairs department P Sudeep said.

Fifty eight nurses had reached Tunisia from Tripoli two days ago, of which 44 are coming on Tuesday. While three nurses are expected to arrive by another flight, the remaining are expected to reach Kerala on Wednesday. Another 43 nurses have reached Tunisia border on Monday, he said.

The state government will be giving a cash assistance of Rs 2,000 each to the nurses for their onward journey from here, he added. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had on August 1 wrote to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj seeking the Centre’s help in arranging flight for facilitating the return of the nurses.

Fighting between rival militias in Tripoli over the past three weeks and bloody clashes between Islamists and army in the eastern city of Benghazi have prompted several countries to evacuate their nationals and diplomatic staff.

Last month, 46 nurses, who were held captive by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants in Iraq, returned home by a special Air India Flight bringing an end to their about month long trauma.