Berhampur: Parents and family members of software engineer Sibasish Nayak, who was stuck in cruiseliner ‘Diamond Princess’ at Yokohama in Japan, heaved a sigh of relief when he arrived back in India in the wee hours of Thursday. The ship had been quarantined off the Japan coast due to coronavirus threat with many of those on it affected. There were 138 Indians aboard ‘Diamond Princess’ – 132 crew and six tourists.
Lingaraj Nayak, father of Sibasish, wife Jhunu and other relatives expressed joy after hearing the news of Sibasish’s arrival in India.
A delighted Lingaraj said he along with other family members went to a nearby temple immediately after talking with his son over phone Thursday morning to offer prayers.
“Our family will remain obliged to the reporters here for their support, cooperation and efforts to get Sibasish back India,” said Lingaraj.
Sibasish told ‘Orissa POST’ and Odia daily ‘Dharitri’, over the phone that the local administration had brought the evacuees in a bus to the Haneda airport Wednesday. They then boarded an aircraft sent by the Indian government to bring them back to the country. After landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi all of them were taken to a nearby military base in a bus.
“We will be kept there under observation for 14 days. Our blood samples will be sent for nCoV test. If the report is negative, we will be allowed to go back home,” informed Sibasish.
PNN