Telugu tourists stranded in Bahrain plead for rescue

Vijayawada: A group of Telugu people from various parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, stranded in Bahrain, appealed to the govts of the 2 Telugu states for immediate repatriation from the war-torn country. The group, which included elderly people suffering from various health ailments, complained of difficulty in making ends meet.In a selfie video, the group appealed to prime minister Narendra Modi, along with Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy, to take immediate steps to rescue them and fly them back to their native places in the two Telugu states."On Feb 24, we visited Bahrain on a tourist visa, but our flight to India was cancelled following missile strikes at Bahrain airport on Feb 28, forcing us to cancel our return journey and take shelter in relief homes," the group said in the video. "As we ran out of money, we depended on local Telugu people for food. The authorities also are not providing medicines without prescriptions, due to which we are suffering, as the majority of us are diabetic," the group further claimed.When TOI contacted the APNRTS, an official said that a total of 90 people from Andhra Pradesh stranded in Bahrain were identified and shifted to shelter homes, where their welfare is being taken care of by local NRTS representatives."The APNRTS sent the list of 90 individuals to AP Bhavan, which wrote to the MEA seeking their repatriation from Bahrain. Upon obtaining transit visas, all 90 stranded people from AP will be shifted to Saudi Arabia, from where they will be flown back to India," the APNRTS official added. When TOI contacted the AP Bhavan Special Commissioner Dr Arja Srikanth, he said they are yet to ascertain the whereabouts of people from Andhra Pradesh stranded in Bahrain.