A 45-year-old nurse from the Fort City,
Vellore, is stranded thousands of miles away from her family. She waits for
every single minute for a call from the Indian Embassy about her safe flight
out of the strife-torn Yemen
Published: 04th April 2015
VELLORE: The husband of a 45-year-old nurse stranded in strife-torn Yemen on Friday submitted a petition to collector R Nanthagopal seeking the government’s help in getting his wife back safely.
Nurse Nirmala, posted with the military hospital in the heart of Sanaa, has been working in Yemen since 2008. For the last several days she has been waiting for a telephone call from the Indian embassy, which she hopes would send her home safely.
Nirmala’s husband, A Amalanathan, who sought the Collector’s help , and her two children back home at Viruthampet have been praying for her safe return ever since the Arab country plunged into civil war.
Talking to Express over phone, she said, “The situation has turned from bad to worse in the last one month.” In the last few weeks she got used to hearing explosions, gun fire and air strikes. A week ago, a powerful explosion rocked the area just hundred metres from the hospital where Nirmala works.
When asked about it, she said, “The impact of the explosion so close scared me like never before. Until that moment, I and several other fellow nurses from Kerala and Tamil Nadu felt safe inside the hospital premises. But life has become uncertain now.”
She, however, said there was no dearth of basic amenities inside the hospital premises.
“We have no problem of water, food and other basic amenities. But we don’t know what would happen the next minute,” she said, and added that all Indian workers in Yemen had registered with the Indian Embassy and were waiting for the call to be told of their flight back home.
“Two flights with Indians working in Sana’a have flown out from here (Yemen) today,” she further said.
She has worked as a nurse at Christian Medical College Hospital here for 18 years before moving to Sana’a.
Amalanathan’s cousin Joshua Ebenezer (32), works in another hospital in Sana’a as a lab technician. “We are praying for their safe return and we plead that the Central and State governments act swiftly to reunite them with us. They should help every stranded Indian reach home safely,” said a visibly upset Amalanathan, holding his son Jefferson Daniel.
He added that he spoke to his wife on Friday. She told him that there were no air strikes since last night, but gunfire was going on. “She comes home once every two years and spends two months with us,” he further said.
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