One passenger on the ill-fated Air India Express flight which crashed in Kozhikode have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel identified the person to be 45-yr-old Sudheer Varyath, one of the deceased.
However, sources say that at least three more persons are suspected to be positive. The results of 27 persons is negative for coronavirus.
Health Minister K K Shailaja has asked all the people who were engaged in the rescue operations to report to health authorities, and self-quarantine as a precautionary measure. She said that all of them would be tested.
The flight with 190 passengers and crew on board overshot the runway at Kozhikode while landing on Friday night and fell into a valley about 35 feet below and broke. The condition of 16 passengers, admitted to various hospitals, is serious, Malappuram Collector K Gopalakrishnan said.
At least 18 passengers, including the two pilots of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, were killed in the incident.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has also directed its personnel to go into preventive quarantine, officials said on Saturday. CISF said it was the "first responder" to rescue passengers on Friday, as its Assistant Sub Inspector Ajit Singh was on runway patrol at the time of the incident.
"We are identifying our personnel, who rescued the passengers who have tested positive for coronavirus," CISF Special Director General (Airports) M A Ganapathy told PTI.
Around 50 CISF personnel, who were involved in the rescue operation, and their family members have been asked to quarantine themselves, he said. The force will also conduct COVID-19 tests of all those who were exposed, the officer said. The CISF provides a counter-terrorist cover to the Kozhikode airport.
Another official told PTI that the rescuers of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other airport officials have also been asked to go into self-quarantine in view of the COVID-19 positive report of some passengers.
ASI Singh, who saw the crash first, had immediately alerted his control room, which later informed the airport authorities and rescue teams from the CISF, airport authority, fire and police were subsequently rushed to the spot.
WIth inputs from PTI