PIA flight departs for Yemen to bring back stranded Pakistanis

It is learnt that Pakistanis had reached a safe location in Hodeidah and waiting for the assistance from home country.

First special aircraft of PIA to evacuate stranded Pakistanis in Yemen has departed for Al Hudaydah.

According to Prime Minister’s special assistant Shujaat Azim, Saudi Civil Aviation has given clearance to PIA. Two jumbo jets have been arranged to evacuate stranded Pakistanis from Yemen following unrest in Yemen.

Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry told a press conference last night that a convoy of 16 buses was carrying stranded Pakistanis from the capital of Sanaa to the city of Hodeidah, where they would be kept in a school building overnight and flown out on Sunday morning.

He said some Pakistanis remained stranded in the southern government stronghold of Aden and were awaiting a lull in the fighting so they too could be rescued.

“The situation in Yemen is turning bad and it is our priority to safely evacuate our people. There are around 3,000 Pakistanis residing in Yemen, of which around 1,000 are trying to leave the country and come back to Pakistan,” Chaudhry said.

A Pakistani naval vessel will leave for Yemen today, he added, while the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) had two planes ready and waiting for the go-ahead from Yemeni authorities.

“Saudi Arabia has declared Yemen a no-fly zone and we are in constant touch with the Saudi authorities to allow our planes to land on any safe airport,” Chaudhry said.