Two of the passengers who were on board the Air India Express flight from Dubai that crash-landed at the Karipur airport near Kozhikode have tested positive for coronavirus, sources in the CISF told News18.
Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel told the media that one of the two was 45-year-old Sudheer Varyath, who died in the accident. His sample was sent for testing and it has returned positive for the disease, he said.
Malappuram Collector K Gopalakrishnan said all passengers have been admitted to various hospitals, and they are also being tested for COVID-19, and added that autopsy of the bodies would be carried out according to the COVID-19 protocol.
Health Minister K K Shailaja has asked all the people who were engaged in the rescue operations should report to the health authorities and go on self-quarantine as a precautionary measure and get themselves tested.
Sources in the CISF said that 50 personnel who were involved in the rescue operations have been sent into quarantine. They said that an attempt is being made to match the positive cases with personnel who rescued them.
“This will take time. Meanwhile, the entire lot is in temporary isolation,” an official said.
The flight with 190 passengers and crew on board had overshot the runway here while landingon Friday night and fell into a valley about 35 feet below and broke into two portions.
The condition of 16 passengers, admitted to various hospitals, is serious, K Gopalakrishnan said.
The Air India Express plane was repatriating Indians stranded in Dubai due to the coronavirus pandemic as part of the Vande Bharat Mission.
The aircraft overshot the runway of the Calicut International Airport in heavy rain near Kozhikode on Friday. This was India's worst passenger aircraft accident since 2010.
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