An Indian Navy sailor deployed onboard INS Kesari in Mozambique was airlifted by a P-8I maritime patrol aircraft after he needed urgent medical attention, the Navy said on Thursday.
As part of Mission Sagar, INS Kesari was deployed to Maputo, Mozambique, for delivering food aid, two Fast Interceptor Craft and self-defence equipment.
“During the deployment, one sailor developed a medical emergency and was required to be evacuated to India for medical intervention,” the Navy said in a statement. The P-8I aircraft, on routine deployment to the southern Indian Ocean, was diverted for his evacuation.
The Navy expressed its gratitude to the Government of Mozambique, Dr Sergio Fernandes Salvador (neurosurgeon), Dr. Momede Rafico Mussa Bagus (intensivist) and Dr. Simple Singh (paediatric nephrologist), a person of Indian origin, at Privado Hospital, Maputo, for their dedicated efforts in providing medical attention to the sailor and for his safe medical evacuation, which was undertaken in close coordination with and support of the High Commission of India to Mozambique. “The evacuation once again brings out the inherent flexibility of Indian Navy platforms to change their roles whilst being mission deployed,” it added.
Naval ships on mission based deployment during the second wave of COVID-19 were diverted to friendly foreign countries in west and southeast Asia for ferrying Liquid Medical Oxygen under Operation Samudra Setu II.
Rescue off Lakshadweep
At 12:45 p.m., the FIC of Sagar Prahari Bal Lakshadweep, on routine surveillance, observed three locals in the water close to the Kavaratti harbour near the Western Jetty. “One of the them, Rashid, was successfully picked up and given first aid as per standard operating procedures. The others were thereafter recovered by a police patrol boat,” the Navy said.
