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39 Sri Lankans safely evacuated from Yemen

Xinhua, April 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

Thirty-nine Sri Lankans have been safely evacuated from Yemen by air with the help of the Chinese Embassy and they will be transported to Bahrain, the Foreign Ministry said here on Saturday.

Eight Sri Lankans on Friday was safely evacuated from the war- ravaged Arab nation and had reached Djibouti by sea, an official from the Foreign Ministry said. "The Bahrain government has informed Colombo that they will assist in sending back these Sri Lankan citizens. We are closely in touch with the Chinese Embassy and also the Bahraini government in safely getting our citizens back home,"the official said.

According to data received by the Foreign Ministry, 40 Sri Lankans are still trapped in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa while 11 people are in Hodeidah.

Eight Sri Lankans were in Mukalla out of which five have been evacuated and will reach Oman on Saturday and four were in Aiden out of which three have reached Djibouti, the Foreign Ministry said. "We have received information that the whereabouts of 10 other Sri Lankan citizens is still unknown,"the official said.

The government said this week it is making arrangements to evacuate at least 100 of its citizens stranded in Yemen as fighting escalates between the Houthi rebels and the Saudi military forces.

Sri Lankan families have been requested to inform the ministry of the whereabouts of their family members to assist evacuation.

The government has already requested China, India and the UN to help evacuate the Sri Lankan citizens trapped in Yemen. Endi