PUDUCHERRY: As many as 300 French tourists in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry who have been stranded owing to the lockdown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic are being evacuated and flown back home by the Consulate General of France in Puducherry and Chennai on Wednesday. Among them are 138 French nationals from Puducherry.
“The Consulate General of France in Pondicherry and Chennai is organising the repatriation of 300 French nationals stranded in Pondicherry and various places in Tamil Nadu and Chennai. With the authorisation of the government of India and the assistance of local authorities, buses and shuttles have been organised for the transfer of the French nationals to the Chennai Airport. A special flight chartered by the French government will take off this evening from Chennai to Paris,” said an official statement from the French Consulate in Puducherry.
The French nationals approached the consulate here for help after being stranded following which consulate officials contacted the government of France, through its embassy in Delhi, sources said. On the basis of this, the French government coordinated with the government of India and sent two aircraft to Chennai to pick up the French nationals.
The French consulate here arranged four buses and picked up the nationals from the consulate who will reach the Chennai airport in the evening. The flight from Chennai will take off tonight.