A Jet Airways flight carrying 214 passengers and 28 crew members who were stranded in Belgium after Tuesday’s blasts in Brussels reached Delhi early this morning.
Flight 9W 1229 from Amsterdam, which also had 70 people from Delhi on board, landed at the airport in the capital around 5:10 am and later left for Mumbai.
Soon after the flight landed, Jet Airways tweeted: “A big welcome to our guests! Flight 9W 1229 from Amsterdam has landed at Delhi @IndEmbassyBru”
Two Indian crew members of the airline who were injured in the explosions at the Brussels airport are still recovering at a Brussels hospital. One of them – flight attendant Nidhi Chaphekar, has been placed in medically induced coma, a Jet Airways manager was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. He also added that she has suffered 15 per cent burns and has a fractured foot, but is out of danger.
Two explosions ripped through Brussels airport on Tuesday morning killing 14 people and injuring many more. A short while later 20 people were killed in a blast at a metro station in the city. Six people were arrested in the case on Thursday.
Jet Airways has its main hub in Europe at Brussels and operates four flights there. All four had touched down at Brussels when the explosions happened.
As all flights in and out of Brussels were cancelled after the blasts, the airline yesterday transferred its passengers to Amsterdam.
Speaking to NDTV at the airport today, a passenger Pradeep Sharma said they were helped by local authorities and complained that the Indian embassy “did not take any responsibility.” “Camps were set up by local authorities. They made good arrangements,” he said.
Describing the ordeal, another passenger, identified as Praveen, said they were stranded outside the airport in the cold for three hours.
Recalling the day the blasts happened, another passenger, Chandan Ghai, said, “The departure area of the airport was completely destroyed. Hundreds of people were running out for shelter. There was blood everywhere. We were really scared.”