The flight returning to the United Arab Emirates for the group of Italians remained stuck on the island of Socotrain Yemen, is scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday 5 May. According to the Ansa news agency, all tourists “have already been notified and the situation currently presents no further problems”.
The group, the journey, the alarm
Except for last-minute counter-orders, Thus ends the misadventure for the 31 Italians left on April 22nd for a relaxing holiday on the Yemeni island. In the group, which includes two Venetianeven people from Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Puglia, Abruzzo, Tuscany and Sicily. The return was supposed to take place on April 29th: flight set for ninety people, adding others to the Italians Czech, German, Polish and Spanish tourists. Then the cancellation of the slot and a postponement – in words – of five days. New stop on May 3rd, sine die this time, an event that aroused alarm and led to the spread of the news.
The Farnesina intervenes
The Farnesina also dealt with the matter. Some Italians, stuck in a hotel in Socotra awaiting news on their possible return, they had been contacted directly by the deputy and group leader of FdI in the Foreign and Community Affairs Committee of the Chamber, Giangiacomo Calovini: «There is no immediate danger – the Honorable Member had assured –, but it cannot be underlined that the “Viaggiare Sicuri” indications strongly advised against any type of travel to Yemen».
The voice of one of the group
Yesterday, Friday 3 May, one of the Italians waiting, Ludovica Russo, from Belluno, had told on the phone what was happening in Socotra: «We are fine – the words of the 34-year-old nurse -. Of course, emotionally it’s a little more difficult. Yesterday they brought us soap and toilet paper. The civilians are really very kind, unfortunately we don’t even have SIM cards to make calls or even money. We are guests in a hotel and depend on the premises for water and food.” Ludovica also summarized the communications on the return flights: «They moved the flight to May 3, then canceled it again due to bad weather, even though we didn’t see any difficult weather conditions. Last night (Thursday 2 May, ed) they told us that it was no longer possible to leave and panic broke out among us. An important help was Garmin’s SOS in reach device, which contacted the Italian embassy…”.
