India / 600 people involved in Kerala plane crash rescue ops quarantined

Kozhikode: Days after an Air India Express flight from Dubai to Kerala’s Kozhikode crashed at the Kozhikode International Airport Friday evening, 600 people, who were involved in the rescue operations, including Malappuram District Collector K Gopalakrishnan, have gone under quarantine as a precautionary measure against the spread of COVID-19.

Earlier, on Saturday, the day after the crash, in which 18 people including both the pilots were killed, the Kerala government had advised everyone involved in the rescue operations to go into quarantine, adding that it will conduct COVID-19 test of all the rescuers.

Hours later, several personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which guards the airport, went into quarantine after at least two passengers, of the 190 passengers who were on board, tested positive for the infection.

According to reports, at least 50 CISF personnel, and their family personnel, were involved in the rescue operations.

Overall, Kerala has thus far recorded a total of 34,331 cases of coronavirus, achieving the tally after a spike of 1,211 on Sunday. This includes 21,832 recovered cases, 12,391 active cases and 108 deaths, including two on Sunday.