The Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying 312 Bangladeshis stuck in the coronavirus stricken Wuhan in China’s Hubei province has landed in Dhaka.

The Boeing 777-300 aircraft landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Saturday (Feb 12) at 11:55 pm, the airport’s Director Towhidul Ahsan told Bangla Tribune.

They have been taken to the Hajj camp at Kurmitola in eight buses where they will be kept under observation.

Among 312 Bangladeshis are 197 adults, 12 are children and 3 infants, reports BSS.

The special flight with 15 crew members and four physicians departed for Wuhan on Friday (Jan 31) at 6 pm.

In a media call with Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Friday (Feb 1), Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was worried about the fate of Bangladeshi citizens especially the students residing in China and directed the foreign ministry to initiate steps to bring them back.

“Earlier, the china government told us that they would not allow anyone to leave Wuhan before 14 days …. but last night they informed us that they managed a pocket to send our nationals (on Friday night),” he said.

After getting Chinese approval, the foreign minister said they informed the matter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and “Right away, she told us to take the opportunity to bring them (Bangladeshi citizen) back.”

Momen said the health ministry has already taken all arrangements at the Hajj camp to keep the returnees in quarantine.

He hoped that Bangladeshis who are residing in other parts of China will not need to be brought back.

The minister said that they have no plan to suspend flight operation to China like some other countries.

Meanwhile, the health minister said they have enough manpower comprising Directorate General of Health and Army medical care to manage the situation.

He said the health ministry has already prepared a treatment protocol as per guideline of the World Health Organization (WHO) to manage the situation.

“We have already published a booklet regarding the treatment protocol and distributed it to all government and private hospitals across the country,” he added.

Earlier, the foreign minister said fifteen Bangladeshi students informed the Beijing mission that they don’t want to return home to avoid any possibilities to transmit the disease in Bangladesh.

The World Health Organization declared a global emergency over the new coronavirus, as China reported Saturday the death toll had climbed to 259 with nearly 10,000 infections.