The Indian crew members of the ship-wrecked Costa Concordia started returning home on Thursday, nearly a week after the luxury ship ran aground off the Italian coast.
One of the Indian crew members, Khandara Surjan Singh, who arrived IGI airport in Delhi, claimed that one Indian is still missing after the ship sank. Mr Singh said that his colleague Russel Rebello was not found until he returned.
According to the ministry of external affairs, as many as 84 survivors out of the 202 rescued Indians arrived in different cities in the country — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru — on the first day of their home coming.
A senior official in the ministry of overseas Indian affairs told this newspaper that only one person has not contacted the Indian embassy in Rome out of his choice and another person has opted to stay back in Italy. Apart from the 202 crew members, there was also an Indian passenger on the board who has returned to Spain where he lives.
The Indian embassy in Rome is facilitating the survivors’ return journey to India. The rescued were first taken to Dubai from where they boarded emirates flights to India. Apart from opening control rooms in Delhi and other cities, the government has also provided Rs 2,000 each for their other expenses during the journey.
The first batch of 12 landed at IGI airport in New Delhi at 11 am. The remaining Indians will be flying home in the following days and a few of them are expected to arrive in Trivandrum and Tiruchirapalli during the wee hours of Saturday.