By Sarah Hannan
Sri Lankan students enrolled for their higher studies in various universities in China arrived in Sri Lanka in batches over the past few days. The Sunday Morning was able to speak to Tharinda Ranasinghe, a student of Honghe University in Mengzi, Yunnan, who travelled on the China Eastern MU 713 flight from Kunming to Colombo on Wednesday (29) evening.
“All 19 Sri Lankan students from our university took the same flight to come to Sri Lanka. As soon as we got to know that we were allowed to leave China to come to Sri Lanka, we created a group and informed our parents, who were constantly communicating with the Embassy (of Sri Lanka in China) to arrange our journey back home.”
Ranasinghe and the rest of the group were able to book the flight on Tuesday (28) and fly to Sri Lanka on Wednesday (29). He also noted that the Embassy arranged a 50% discount for their flight tickets. Ranasinghe extended the group’s gratitude towards Embassy of Sri Lanka in China Minister/Councellor – Commercial Alexi Gunasekera for assisting them in arranging their flights back to Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, as soon as the virus outbreak was notified, Ranasinghe said that university officials informed them to take necessary precautions if they were going outdoors. Their body temperatures were checked when they entered supermarkets and stores as well.
“We were asked to wear double masks when we went outdoors and were instructed to use hand sanitiser at all times. We were also asked to avoid crowded places. We were subjected to daily checkups at the university, and before departing to the airport, a team of doctors checked all of us and asked if we were experiencing any symptoms.”
Ranasinghe also added that every city in China was placed on lockdown, with some cities not allowing entry or exit for up to 14 days and subjecting anyone entering the city to health screenings.
“Our university actually created a further self-imposed lockdown and didn’t allow resident students to leave university premises for 14 days since the virus broke out. We were given permission to leave the university and travel to Sri Lanka after the 14 days. We took the first opportunity to come back to Sri Lanka. Even during that time, we had regular health checks at the university.”
On Friday (31), a SriLankan Airlines special charter flight UL-1423 flew to Wuhan with a 16-member crew who volunteered to operate with Mercy Flight that brought back 33 Sri Lankan students from Wuhan, China. Flight UL-1423 landed at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) yesterday morning following its extremely long turnaround flight from Colombo to Wuhan.
Members of the Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Response Squadron of Sri Lanka Army received the students at the airport and transported them to the quarantine facility located at the premises of the Diyatalawa Army Base Hospital.
Following the crew’s successful return, the airline, issuing a statement of gratitude, thanked their volunteer crew members. SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ashok Pathirage stated: “The Board of Directors and indeed every employee of SriLankan Airlines are extremely proud of the selfless efforts of our 16 crew members who volunteered to fly to Wuhan, which is currently under a lockdown due to the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Our pilots and cabin staff have gone far beyond the call of duty to ensure the national carrier has once again fulfilled its duty to our nation.
“Our thanks also go to all of our support staff including, the ground handling staff who handled the passengers of this flight in Mattala and the passengers and cargo of all flights from China on a daily basis at Bandaranaike International Airport, commercial team, flight operations, inflight service, medical centre, canton station staff, and engineering.”
The national carrier worked in close co-operation with the Sri Lanka Air Force, which sent its Bio Medical Team to Mattala and provided SriLankan with all the equipment needed to make this mission a success, the statement added.
Photos Pradeep Dambarage, SriLankan Airlines Media
“All 19 Sri Lankan students from our university took the same flight to come to Sri Lanka. As soon as we got to know that we were allowed to leave China to come to Sri Lanka, we created a group and informed our parents, who were constantly communicating with the Embassy (of Sri Lanka in China) to arrange our journey back home.”
Ranasinghe and the rest of the group were able to book the flight on Tuesday (28) and fly to Sri Lanka on Wednesday (29). He also noted that the Embassy arranged a 50% discount for their flight tickets. Ranasinghe extended the group’s gratitude towards Embassy of Sri Lanka in China Minister/Councellor – Commercial Alexi Gunasekera for assisting them in arranging their flights back to Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, as soon as the virus outbreak was notified, Ranasinghe said that university officials informed them to take necessary precautions if they were going outdoors. Their body temperatures were checked when they entered supermarkets and stores as well.
“We were asked to wear double masks when we went outdoors and were instructed to use hand sanitiser at all times. We were also asked to avoid crowded places. We were subjected to daily checkups at the university, and before departing to the airport, a team of doctors checked all of us and asked if we were experiencing any symptoms.”
Ranasinghe also added that every city in China was placed on lockdown, with some cities not allowing entry or exit for up to 14 days and subjecting anyone entering the city to health screenings.
“Our university actually created a further self-imposed lockdown and didn’t allow resident students to leave university premises for 14 days since the virus broke out. We were given permission to leave the university and travel to Sri Lanka after the 14 days. We took the first opportunity to come back to Sri Lanka. Even during that time, we had regular health checks at the university.”
On Friday (31), a SriLankan Airlines special charter flight UL-1423 flew to Wuhan with a 16-member crew who volunteered to operate with Mercy Flight that brought back 33 Sri Lankan students from Wuhan, China. Flight UL-1423 landed at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) yesterday morning following its extremely long turnaround flight from Colombo to Wuhan.
Members of the Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Response Squadron of Sri Lanka Army received the students at the airport and transported them to the quarantine facility located at the premises of the Diyatalawa Army Base Hospital.
Following the crew’s successful return, the airline, issuing a statement of gratitude, thanked their volunteer crew members. SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ashok Pathirage stated: “The Board of Directors and indeed every employee of SriLankan Airlines are extremely proud of the selfless efforts of our 16 crew members who volunteered to fly to Wuhan, which is currently under a lockdown due to the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Our pilots and cabin staff have gone far beyond the call of duty to ensure the national carrier has once again fulfilled its duty to our nation.
“Our thanks also go to all of our support staff including, the ground handling staff who handled the passengers of this flight in Mattala and the passengers and cargo of all flights from China on a daily basis at Bandaranaike International Airport, commercial team, flight operations, inflight service, medical centre, canton station staff, and engineering.”
The national carrier worked in close co-operation with the Sri Lanka Air Force, which sent its Bio Medical Team to Mattala and provided SriLankan with all the equipment needed to make this mission a success, the statement added.
Photos Pradeep Dambarage, SriLankan Airlines Media