Modiji, please save us: Indian crew sends SOS video from cruise ship quarantined over coronavirus
The luxury cruise ship was quarantined when it arrived in Yokohama, last week after one of the passengers who had disembarked in Hong Kong tested positive for the coronavirus infection.
As the coronavirus infection tally aboard a luxury cruise liner quarantined in Japan touched 137, the Indian crew members sent an SOS video from the vessel, requesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save them and the passengers.
In a video, one of the crew members, identified as Binay Kumar Sarkar, said 66 more people -- crew members and passengers onboard Diamond Princess cruise ship -- were tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday, taking the infection tally to 137.
The luxury cruise ship was quarantined when it arrived in Yokohama, last week after one of the passengers who had disembarked in Hong Kong tested positive for the coronavirus infection.
After the vessel was quarantined, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that none of the Indian crew members and passengers had tested positive and that India was closely following the developments.
In the video, posted on Facebook, Binay Kumar Sarkar said all the Indian crew members were scared and 66 more people on the ship had tested positive for the infection, which has killed over 900 in China.
He also requested the Indian government and the United Nations to interfere in the matter and separate the ones who have been infected so that other passengers and crew members do not get infected.
"The passengers should be segregated immediately. We are 3,700 crew members and passengers and the authorities have checked only 500 samples. No-one has been checked for coronavirus. Only the ones with fever are being checked. If Japan cannot help in the matter, I request the UN and the Indian government to interfere and save us," he said.
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Binay Kumar Sarkar added that the ones who have not been infected should be saved from the ones who are found to have coronavirus. "We are 160 crew members and eight Indian passengers. Ninety per cent of the Indian crew is safe. I want to request Modiji to save us and send us home," he said.
India has so far reported three confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (nCoV) from Kerala. Three medical students studying at the Wuhan University, who returned to India recently, tested positive for the virus.