A special plane of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Boeing-777, returned here on Wednesday at 12:07 am from Poland, carrying 230 Pakistanis stranded in Ukraine due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Ambassador of Poland to Pakistan Maciej Pisarski, his wife Justyna Maria Pisarski, Foreign Secretary Sohail Mehmood and PIA officials received the evacuated Pakistanis at the airport.
On this occasion, Polish Ambassador told APP, “We as the embassy are very happy that the students have returned home safe and reunited with their families. We are here
to show solidarity with the parents and share their pain as they were worried for the safety of their children.”
Read more: Russia-Ukraine Standoff: What is next?
On the occasion, Foreign Secretary Sohail Mehmood thanked the government of Poland and said that Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassies of Pakistan were working hard for the evacuation of Pakistanis stuck in Ukraine.
The flight was a special initiative taken by the government of Pakistan under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, he added.
#PIA, in coord with MoFA-GoP, has dispatched a special repatriation flight to #Warsaw #Poland to bring back stranded countrymen from war-hit #Ukraine. PK7788 will reach back Islamabad today carrying Pakistanis back to safety and into warmth of their families. Pakistan Zindabad! pic.twitter.com/MeY3BkPXrW
— PIA (@Official_PIA) March 8, 2022
Emotional scenes at IIAP
The Islamabad International Airport (IIAP) echoed with the slogans of Pakistan Zindabad (Long Live) and the PIA Zindabad raised by the passengers as they came out
of the special flight.
Emotional scenes were witnessed when the repatriated Pakistanis, mostly students, touched the country’s soil with wet eyes.
Students were happy to finally arrive at their homeland and reunite with their families.
Wajeeha, from Nowshehra, said that they were looked after and facilitated well by the Pakistani embassy in Poland but the embassy in Ukraine left them helpless.
Read more: Pakistan embassy helps 35 Pakistani students stranded in Ukraine
She said,” We had to walk 40 km to reach the border of Poland, and the temperature was -5 degrees Celcius.”
On the occasion, the parents thanked the government for rescuing their children.
Courtesy: APP with additional input by GVS