The thought that his wife continues to be stranded amidst bomb strikes and gun fights at war-torn Yemen wells up tears in the eyes of 48-year-old A. Amalanathan, a resident of Viruthampet.
His wife, Nirmala Amalanathan (45), is working as a nurse in the military hospital at Sana’a, Yemen’s capital for the last eight years. The last few days has been filled with turbulence as this family waits for news that she has safely flown out of the strife-torn country to get back home.
“I spoke to her for about 2.5 minutes at 12.25 p.m. on Friday. She said there was an eerie silence in the capital after continuous bomb strikes for the last few days. Last week, she told me that there was a bomb blast just 100 m away from where she is,” said Mr. Amalanathan, who is a businessman.
His cousin brother Joshua Ebenezer (32) is also stranded at another hospital at Sana’a. He is working as a lab technician for the last two years.
Stranded thousands of miles away from home, Ms. Nirmala told The Hindu over phone that there were a number of people from Tamil Nadu and other parts of south India at Sana’a.
They have been surrounded by sounds of explosions and gun fires, she said. Last week’s powerful bomb blast in the vicinity instilled fear among many of the nurses, she added.
“There have been no bomb strikes since last night but gun fighting continues in the area. We heard that two flights from India have taken people back home. All our details have been registered at the Indian Embassy. We are looking forward for the call from the Embassy to inform us about the flight and time that we need to reach the airport,” she said.
She said that basic amenities were available as of now. Back home, her children – a 16-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy are anxiously looking forward to her return. It was last Christmas that their mother spent two months of holidays with them in Vellore. She came to India once in two years on two months leave.
“She told me that they were scared to come out of the hospital. Our anxiety is increasing with each passing day. We request the State and Central governments to intervene and enable the safe return of my wife, cousin and other Indians from Yemen,” Mr. Amalanathan added.
He said that Ms. Nirmala had worked in Christian Medical College, Vellore for 18 years before leaving for Sana’a in 2007.
On Friday, he submitted a petition to the Collector requesting measures to enable the safe return of his family members.
