Indians evacuated from hurricane-hit Sint Maarten

New Delhi : Over 100 Indian and Indian-origin people were today evacuated from the hurricane Irma-hit Sint Maarten and brought to the Caribbean island of Curacao on a special flight chartered by the Indian government.

“The special flight chartered by the government of India just arrived in Curacao with 110 Indian and Indian-origin evacuees from Sint Maarten,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had said yesterday that the evacuation of Indian nationals from Sint Maarten was a priority. Sint Maarten, that is jointly administered by France and the Netherlands, was directly in hurricane Irma’s path. The island suffered widespread destruction after the storm made landfall last week and wreaked havoc on the Caribbean islands.