The first batch of 175 Indians -- 135 from Kerala and 40 from Tamil Nadu -- evacuated from strife-torn Yemen and taken to Djibouti will land at the Kochi airport after midnight, the external affairs ministry and a Kerala minister overseeing the arrival said on Wednesday.
"Braving the weather with high spirits the Indian nationals evacuated from Aden now in Djibouti. will be home tonight," ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin tweeted.
"The first flight will arrive in Kochi in the wee hours from Djibouti," he posted.
Earlier, Kerala's Minister for Diaspora K.C. Joseph told IANS that he was on his way to Kochi to receive the evacuated Indians.
The flight left after 8 p.m. Indian time, he said.
Joseph said Indian officials were getting "limited information" from Yemen.
He said this was the first batch from Yemen who travelled to Djibouti by ship and from there they were put on a flight to Kochi.
With fighting intensifying in Yemen, over 350 nationals, mostly from Kerala, from the southern Yemeni port of Aden to Djibouti were evacuated.
The IAF Globemaster transport planes were waiting to transport them to India.
Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh, who reached neighbouring Djibouti on Tuesday, was coordinating the evacuation operation with the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force.
Sushma Swaraj tweeted that one IAF Globemaster transport plane with Indian nationals would land in Kochi and the other in Mumbai.
"Indian nationals evacuated from Aden by Indian Navy have reached Djibouti. They will be brought back to India by Indian Air Force today (Wednesday). One plane will land in Kochi and the other in Mumbai late this evening," Sushma Swaraj said.
The Kerala minister said the state government has made all arrangements to receive the people.
All those who arrive in Kochi "will be dropped free at their homes" by buses of the Kerala road transport corporation. Those in Tamil Nadu will also be given transport facility.
"We are giving everyone a token sum of Rs.2,000. We will do whatever we can to ensure that they have a comfortable trip to reach their homes," said Joseph.
He said Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who was currently in Dubai, was in constant touch with the external affairs ministry, coordinating the evacuation of Indians, especially Keralites, from Yemen.
