The eight Indian citizens stranded at Karachi airport in Pakistan, including three Malayalis, were flown to Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Monday afternoon and will arrive in India on Tuesday around midnight.

They were stranded in Pakistan after their Air Arabia flight, travelling from Azerbaijan to Kuwait via Sharjah, was diverted and made an emergency landing at Karachi International Airport amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Among the eight Indians who were stranded were Krishnadas, a native of Kodumbu in Palakkad; his wife, Dr Reshmi Menon, a native of Kalady in Ernakulam; and their three-year-old daughter, Smrithi Menon.

The Malayali passengers had contacted Norka Roots through Manikuttan Edakkattu, a member of the Loka Kerala Sabha from Kuwait. The Organisation then reached out to the Union Ministry of External Affairs and coordinated the procedures to bring them back to India.

They will depart for Delhi on a SriLankan Airways flight at 12.30 AM on Tuesday. From there, they would board an early morning Air India flight to Kochi on Tuesday.