Selangor Journal
Malaysians from Wuhan arrive at the Air Disaster Unit (ADU) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on February 26, 2020 — Picture by HEALTH MINISTRY

Special aircraft on second Wuhan evacuation mission arrives in KLIA

SEPANG, Feb 26 — The special flight carrying Malaysian nationals from Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak, arrived safely at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) early today.

The AirAsia flight chartered specifically for the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) mission initiated by the Malaysian government landed at 6.50 am. The aircraft left for Wuhan from KLIA2 at 5.58 pm yesterday.

A total of 66 individuals, including children, were brought home in the special flight which departed from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport at 1.45 am today.

The aircraft also carried 12 crew members, nine Malaysian government representatives and two officers from the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing, making it 89 people on board.

All those brought home would have to undergo health screening at the Air Disaster Unit (ADU) at KLIA, just as how it was done in the first HADR mission on February 4.

Those detected with the symptoms will be sent to the Tuanku Jaafar Hospital in Seremban, while others will be taken to the Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT) in Nilai, which serves as a monitoring centre, and placed under quarantine for 14 days.

In the first humanitarian aid mission carried out by the Malaysian government on February 4, a total of 107 Malaysians stranded in Hubei province were flown home.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, in a statement said 75 passengers were originally listed to be on the flight home, but nine of them could not make it due to various factors.

“Six who were already at the (Wuhan) airport could not board due to health reasons.

“One passenger withdrew, also from health reasons, without being present at the airport, another could not make the trip because of work commitments while one more individual could not leave Wuhan due to logistical issues,” the statement read.

— Bernama

Top Picks

Nur Aisyah to be based in Belgium until Paris Olympics

Bella murder case re-mention on May 20 for transfer to High Court

Malaysia to collaborate with Asean members on media regulation — Fahmi