India evacuates 19 seafarers stranded in Yemen

The Indian Embassy in Yemen said it evacuated 19 Indian seafarers who had been stranded in Hodeidah and Sanaa for about two weeks, adding that they were safe, in good health and on their way back to India.

The embassy announced the evacuation in a post on X and thanked people involved for their cooperation and support. It did not provide further details about the operation. The reports of the evacuation and the seafarers’ condition all trace to the embassy’s statement.

The evacuation follows an earlier report concerning 14 Indian nationals aboard a yacht near Hodeidah. On October 23, the Indian mission said those nationals were safe and that it was in contact with relevant parties to establish the circumstances of an incident off Yemen’s coast. The embassy’s statement on the 19 evacuees does not establish whether those 14 were among them.

Yahya Saree, a spokesperson for Yemen’s Houthi group, was quoted by some Arab media as saying Saudi forces had targeted the yacht near Yuqar Island in the Red Sea and that Houthi forces were involved in rescuing its passengers. The allegation has not been independently verified in the reports. The Indian mission’s earlier statement confirmed the...