Coronavirus: India repatriation flight honours deceased UAE expat social worker

Sharjah - Special boarding passes, displaying Nithin's pictures, for passengers and a free goody bag with PPE.

An Indian community group organised a chartered flight from Sharjah to Kerala on Thursday to honour the memory of Nithin Chandran, a Malayalee expat who died an untimely death in Dubai on June 8.
A total of 215 passengers, including 100 women and children, were repatriated on a special Air Arabia aircraft at 11.30pm on Thursday to Kozhikode.
Nithin, whose pregnant wife filed a repatriation petition to the Supreme Court of India, suffered a congestive heart failure and passed away in his sleep. A day after his demise, his 27-year-old wife Athira Geetha Sreedharan gave birth to the couple's first child - a baby daughter.
Community group Incas Youth Wing UAE, in association with Ras Al Khaimah Incas Committee and the Ras Al Khaimah Indian Association, chartered the special flight. Hyder Kodanad Thattathazhath, president of Incas Youth Wing, said: "There were 30 pregnant women in various stages of their pregnancy on board and we provided free tickets to 13 passengers, including seven women."

Special boarding passes, displaying Nithin's pictures, were printed for the passengers and a free goody bag with personal protection equipment (PPE) and sweets were distributed to all passengers. "We decided to distribute these special boarding passes and gift bags that displayed Nithin's picture to all the passengers. This is our way to honour his memory," said Thattathazhath.

Nithin's death sent shockwaves among the Indian community in the UAE as he was a dedicated social worker with a passion for health-related initiatives. "We decided to charter the flight to Kozhikode as it is Nithin's hometown," said SA Salim, president, RAK Indian Association.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

• Sharjah
• India