A mid-air birth of a baby on the flight evacuating stranded Nigerians from the United Arab Emirates has been reported.
As a result of the child birth, the plane was forced to make an air return to Dubai, an hour after take off.
The woman gave birth an hour into the about eight hours trip on Wednesday and the pilots had to return the plane to Dubai to disembark the mother and the newborn, according to reports.
On arrival in Dubai, the woman and her baby boy were taken to a hospital in Dubai.
The Nigerian Ambassador in Dubai, Amb. Mohammed Rimi and the staff of the Embassy are said to be in touch with mother and child who are reported to be in good condition.
The plane has since returned to the air and is due to arrive in Lagos on Wednesday evening.
Reacting to the development, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, said the 265 Nigerians on board would arrive in Lagos from Dubai on Wednesday.
The evacuation is part of efforts to bring Nigerians willing to come back into the country amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in the process of evacuating Nigerians from abroad and in accordance with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control guidelines, the evacuees will undergo a mandatory 14-day supervised quarantine in a monitored environment.
“In this regard, Emirates Airlines is scheduled to evacuate the first batch of 265 Nigerians from Dubai, United Arab Emirates and they will arrive at 3:00 pm on Wednesday, 6th May 2020 at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos,” Onyeama had said in a statement by his media aide, Mr Ferdinand Nwonye.
PerSecondnews learnt that all the passengers have been tested before embarking and were found to be COVID-19-free.
Leave a comment