TOKYO: A second flight chartered by the Japanese government for evacuating Japanese nationals in the wake of the deteriorating situation in the Middle East arrived at Narita Airport from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday (March 10) morning.
The flight carried 281 people, many of them Japanese nationals who had been staying in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.
Including the first flight which landed Sunday, 388 people have now returned to Japan on government-chartered flights.
Words of relief were heard from the passengers after landing.
A 28-year-old woman from Kyoto who had traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet a relative said, “When I was at [the relative’s] home, I could hear the booms of explosions. I felt worried every day.”
A sixth-year student of Kitasato University was left stranded in Qatar while on her way to Europe for a graduation trip.
“I was worried because I couldn’t get any information,” she said. “The windows of my hotel room were rattled by the sounds of interception, which was scary.”
The government is planning to fly more chartered flights, this time from Riyadh and Dubai, on Tuesday evening.
The government is also helping Japanese nationals leave countries around Iran.
On Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry announced that 48 Japanese nationals had evacuated to Riyadh from Doha.
“We’d like to continue sincerely responding to inquiries from Japanese people stranded in the region,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara. - The Yomiuri Shimbun
