Malaysian tourists stranded

Around 500 Malaysian tourists have been stranded at the Tiruchi airport, following the suspension of flights to Malaysia. India has suspended flight operations to countries due to COVID-19 and Malaysia is one of them. A few of them have been using social media to appeal to their government.

Niranjan, a tourist, said: “We were supposed to fly on March 15, but the flights kept being cancelled.”

Though a few NGOs have been helping them by providing food and accommodation, it has not been sufficient to meet their needs, he said.

There are several elderly and a pregnant woman in the group.

“We have decided to stay in the Tiruchi airport until we get an answer on departure date. One of our political parties, the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), has agreed to bear the cost of RM 1.05 million on of our flight, to rescue us, but now it is in the hands of the Indian government to permit us to fly back,” he said.

Efforts to contact the Consulate General in Chennai were futile.

On Wednesday night, a Consulate employee said that the Indian government had stopped flight operations, delaying the departure of the tourists.