Over 100 Malaysians evacuated from Bangladesh arrive at KLIA

 

Eighty students were among those who arrived at KLIA Terminal 2 from Bangladesh on a chartered flight. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

A total of 123 Malaysians, including 80 students, have arrived back from Bangladesh on a chartered flight following deadly protests in the country which have killed almost 150 people.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the government would bring back all Malaysians in Bangladesh due to security concerns following protests over quotas for government jobs in the country.

The AirAsia A320 aircraft arrived at KLIA Terminal 2 at 4.57pm after departing from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 11.05am.

Siti Nurathirah Afrina Azree, 25, said she had mixed feelings about returning to Malaysia as she was in her final year of studies.

She told Bernama she was especially worried when a curfew order was issued by the Bangladeshi government.

After hearing from locals that the protest might continue… we were worried as there was no internet connection and our parents were panicking (in Malaysia),

 she said.

We felt we needed to return home… This evacuation mission was a blessing for us.

Reuters reported that Dhaka and most major cities in Bangladesh were under a curfew and an internet and telecommunications shutdown which the government imposed after the protests erupted last week.

Another student, Sarvin Tharmalingam, said the evacuation mission by the government was the main reason most of the students chose to return home.

The poor phone signal and the lack of an internet connection made it hard to contact (others) and check whether the situation is safe,

 he said. - FMT