Indians arrive home, mission staff to stay on

With 520 Indians expected to be brought back from Egypt on Monday, New Delhi said its mission was ready to assist its citizens in the Arab nation.

With 520 Indians expected to be brought back from Egypt on Monday, New Delhi said its mission was ready to assist its citizens in the Arab nation.

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"Five hundred-odd people are expected to be back from Egypt today. The special flight carrying 320 people have already landed in Delhi, and the another aircraft with 200 people is expected to land in the evening," Vishnu Prakash, spokesperson of the external affairs ministry said.

A sense of relief shone through the faces of the batch of Indians, who landed in Mumbai. "It was like a nightmare...(there was) gunfire everywhere, as smoke billowed out of the buildings and government properties set on fire. Thankfully, I am out of all that and safely back home," said Pankaj, who had gone to Cairo on a leisure trip with his family.

Meanwhile, all the mission staffs and their families in Cairo have decided to stay back. "...The embassy staff will be working overtime to deal with the situation," Prakash said. There are some 30 Indian staff-members in the mission.