Hurricane Irma: Evacuation of Indians from Sint Maarten priority, says Swaraj

The island has suffered widespread destruction after the storm made landfall last week and wreaked havoc on the Caribbean islands.

The Indian government has arranged for evacuation of Indian nationals from the hurricane-hit Caribbean island of Sint Maarten, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Monday.

View of the aftermath of Hurricane Irma on Sint Maarten in the Caribbean. (Reuters)

“The evacuation of Indian nationals from Sint Maarten is a priority for us,” Swaraj said in a tweet.

She said that the evacuation process was to begin on Monday but the plane chartered for the purpose could not fly.

“We are organising another aircraft to carry out the operation,” she said.

Sint Maarten, that is jointly administered by France and the Netherlands, was directly in hurricane Irma’s path. The island suffered widespread destruction after the storm made landfall last week and wreaked havoc on the Caribbean islands.