Air India flight carrying second batch of Indian and Maldives evacuees to land in Delhi today

The virus originated in Wuhan in December and has since then spread to various cities around the world. The death toll in China due to the deadly virus has gone up to 304.

New Delhi: An Air India special flight carrying the second batch of 323 Indians evacuated from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan along with 7 Maldives passengers, will land in New Delhi on Sunday morning, national carrier's spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar said.

The flight took off from Wuhan at 3:10 am (IST) and is expected to land in New Delhi at 9:20 am, Kumar said.

"Second Air India special flight from Wuhan departed at 0540 hours, i.e. 0310 (IST). The flight time is six hours. It is expected to land in Delhi by 0920 hours Indian time," Kumar said.

Foreign Minister of Maldives Abdulla Sahid posted on his official Twitter handle: "7 Maldivians in Wuhan are on their way to Delhi on a special Air India flight. Upon arrival, they will be housed in Delhi for a period of quarantine. Deep gratitude to PM Narendra Modi and EM Dr S Jaishankar. Special thanks to Ambassadors Vikram Misri and Sunjay Sudhir and their teams."

Meanwhile, Indian Ambassador to China, Vikram Misri tweeted on Sunday that the flight carries 323 Indian citizens on board, while 7 Maldives citizens "are also being evacuated".

"The 2nd #AirIndia flight from #Wuhan has just taken off for #Delhi with 323 Indian citizens on board. 7 Maldives citizens are also being evacuated. Grateful once again to @MFA_China and local authorities all across #Hubei for their assistance," Misri tweeted.

• 7 Maldivians along with 323 Indians are being evacuated to #Delhi from #Wuhan by a special @airindiain AI flight.
  An action that reflects historic ties of kinship between us, &, synergy between #NeighbourhoodFirst & #IndiaFirst policies. @MEAIndia @MoFAmv @EOIBeijing@PMOIndia https://t.co/zmvhqkPmTL

  — India in Maldives (@EoIMaldives) February 2, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  7 Maldivians along with 323 Indians are being evacuated to #Delhi from #Wuhan by a special @airindiain AI flight.
  An action that reflects historic ties of kinship between us, &, synergy between #NeighbourhoodFirst & #IndiaFirst policies. @MEAIndia @MoFAmv @EOIBeijing@PMOIndia https://t.co/zmvhqkPmTL

  — India in Maldives (@EoIMaldives) February 2, 2020

  ">

  7 Maldivians along with 323 Indians are being evacuated to #Delhi from #Wuhan by a special @airindiain AI flight.
  An action that reflects historic ties of kinship between us, &, synergy between #NeighbourhoodFirst & #IndiaFirst policies. @MEAIndia @MoFAmv @EOIBeijing@PMOIndia https://t.co/zmvhqkPmTL

  — India in Maldives (@EoIMaldives) February 2, 2020

Earlier, Kumar had said that the team of doctors on the aircraft would be the same as on the first, while the crew has changed, adding that the flight operation would still be led by Air India's Director of Operations Captain Amitabh Singh.

The flight carrying the first batch of Indians had landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Saturday. Of the 324 passengers, three were minors and 211 were students.

The virus originated in Wuhan in December and has since then spread to various cities around the world

The virus originated in Wuhan in December and has since then spread to various cities around the world. The death toll in China due to the deadly virus has gone up to 304, according to the reports.

Several countries including India have sped up the evacuation process after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak as a global health crisis.