Pakistanis' evacuation: PIA special flight to bring back 232 nationals today

The special chartered flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has departed for Islamabad from Poland’s capital Warsaw to bring back stranded Pakistanis from Ukraine, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

The PIA flight PK-7788 has departed for Pakistan from Poland’s capital Warsaw to bring back 232 nationals home. The special chartered flight will land in Islamabad at 11:30 pm tonight.

Earlier, the Pakistani government had decided to operate a special chartered flight to Poland today to bring back stranded Pakistanis from Ukraine.

READ: FM QURESHI ASKS RUSSIAN GOVT TO ASSIST EVACUATION OF PAKISTANIS FROM UKRAINE

The foreign ministry’s spokesperson had said in a statement that a chartered flight will be operated to Poland today. The flight will bring back the nationals from Warsaw.

The spokesperson had said that 7,000 Pakistanis including 3,000 students were present in war-torn Ukraine. Most nationals have already left Ukraine following the advice of the Pakistani embassy on February 24. 1,525 Pakistanis were shifted to Hungary, Poland and Romania, it added.

On March 4, Pakistan’s ambassador in the war-hit country Dr Noel Khokhar had said that as many as 1,470 Pakistani students were evacuated from Ukraine.

READ: FM QURESHI, UKRAINIAN COUNTERPART DISCUSS EVACUATION OF PAKISTANIS

Sharing details of the evacuation of Pakistani nationals from Ukraine, he had said two students are on the Hungary border and will be evacuated as soon as possible.

The envoy had said the embassy has safely evacuated 98 per cent of the Pakistanis from Ukraine. “Now only those few (around 30) Pakistanis are left in Ukraine who are stuck in areas of intense fight,” he added.