Lulu Group chairman Yusuff Ali returns to Abu Dhabi

The 65-year-old businessman, his wife, two other passengers and two pilots were shifted to a hospital here immediately after their chopper crash-landed on marshy land amid heavy rain on Sunday morning.

Kochi:NRI businessman and Lulu group chairman MA Yusuff Ali, who had a miraculous escape on April 11 after his chopper crash-landed on marshy land here, returned to Abu Dhabi on Monday, a spokesman of the Gulf-based group said.

Ali, along with his family members, went back to Abu Dhabi early Monday morning in a special aircraft sent by the Royal Family there, he said.

Read:|Helicopter carrying Lulu group chairman crash-lands in Kochi

"He is back in Abu Dhabi, totally healthy and safe. He is taking rest at home", the spokesman told reporters.

The incident occurred at the Panangad area at around 9 AM on Sunday while Yusuff Ali was on a short trip from his home in Kochi to visit a relative at a nearby hospital.

Sources said the chopper has been shifted to a hangar at Cochin InternationalAirport for repairs.

The Lulu Group had purchased the seven-seater helicopter from a famous European manufacturer two years ago.

Ali's Abu Dhabi-based Lulu Group that owns Lulu Hypermarkets and shopping malls, is one of the top retailers in the Middle East and North African region (MENA).

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It has more than 200 Hypermarkets and Supermarkets in Gulf countries, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and employs over 58,000 people from various countries and has logistics centres in the US, the UK, Spain, South Africa, the Philippines and Thailand.

Yusuf Ali was recently ranked in the Forbes Billionaires list 2021 as the richest Indian in the Middle East.

He is also is billed as the most influential Indian in the Middle East, thanks to his proximity with the Gulf rulers.

PTI

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