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Amid coronavirus scare, 17 fishermen from Kerala trapped in Iran plead for help
Pleading for help citing worsening situation in Iran, fishermen in the video, said they were trapped without food and other basic necessities.
At least 17 fishermen from Kerala, who were trapped in Iran on account of coronavirus threat, have released a video on Sunday narrating their woes and seeking help from the officials in India. Pleading for help citing worsening situation in Iran, fishermen in the video, said they were trapped without food and other basic necessities.
The video shows many men confined in a dingy room.
In the video, they said they reached Iran four months back along with hundred-odd Indians from other states like West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh but now their sponsor has gone incommunicado, leaving them with no hope.
“Even food and water are luxury these days. We were not allowed to move out. We are stuck in fishing villages. We want to get out before situation aggravates. We are waiting for help from the country,” one of them said in the video.
The stranded fishermen also added that got an advisory from the Indian embassy officials in Teheran on February 25, saying that they were monitoring the situation. However, later, no information was available to them by the embassy.
Later, state fisheries minister J Mercykutty Amma said the government was aware of their plight and in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). “We have asked them to give their exact location and other details. Our officials are in touch with the MEA and embassy officials,” she said.
Two days back, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami had written to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar seeking his help to evacuate 300 fishermen from the state stranded in Iran. With 54 deaths and infected cases clocking 978, Iran has seen a drastic spike in cases of COVID-19 , which has resulted in many countries suspending flight operations from Iran.
The first cases were not reported in Iran until February 19, the same day that the two elderly infected people died. Since then, of the more than 1,100 cases in the Middle East, the majority trace back to Iran, reported Associated Press.
