217 Canadians boarded Qatar Airways special flight, says Punjab Special Chief Secy

KBS Sidhu, Special Chief Secretary, Punjab, on Wednesday issued a correction to his earlier tweet saying that the special flight of Qatar Airways had 217 Canadians on board instead of 243.

Earlier today, Sidhu had tweeted: "Just departed from Amritsar International Airport. Qatar Airways special flight to Montreal, Canada via Doha. 243 passengers on board, all Canadians."

Later in another tweet, he said, "A total of 242 passengers had boarded the special flight of Qatar Airways, of which 217 passengers were Canadian, 23 Indians and 1 each from Singapore and Bolivia."

The Centre has announced a suspension of flight services, domestic as well as international carriers, till May 3 with a view to stem the surging cases related to coronavirus infection.

This has left thousands of foreigners stranded across various parts of the country.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in India stand at 19,984 and the death toll in the country is 640.

( With inputs from ANI )