235 BD citizens to reach home today

A total of 235 Bangla-deshis, evacuated earlier from battle-torn Sudan, will reach home from Jeddah, KSA on Friday morning.

They will be flown to Dhaka from Jeddah by a Biman Bangladesh flight at 8:35 am, officials said.

Over 680 Bangladeshis were evacuated from Khartoum to the Port of Sudan on May 2. They were supposed to be shifted to Jeddah by sea routes, but that could not be done due to non-availability of ships.

On Saturday, 135 Bangladeshis were transferred to Jeddah by military planes, provided by the Saudi authorities, and they arrived home from Jeddah on Monday.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the rest of the stranded Bangladeshis were shifted to Jeddah by four chartered flights.

Heavy infighting has erupted in Sudan since April 15 due to the power struggle between two security forces.

The 555 Bangladeshis, who are now stranded in the Port of Sudan, would be taken to Jeddah by special flights.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam said these while briefing reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.

According to the state minister, the rest of the Bangladeshis are likely to be brought back to Dhaka by Saturday.

mirmostafiz@yahoo.com