Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
My son asked ‘will we die in this hotel?’
Thousands of UK residents stuck abroad during the coronavirus pandemic are set to be flown back after the government struck a deal this week with airlines. We’ve spoken to people from Kent still stranded across the globe - and a couple relieved to finally
A family-of-eight stranded almost 5,000 miles away in India say they are running out of food and medication.
The Carringtons and Mccoys, from Sheppey, have been left stuck in Goa after their flight was cancelled last Monday (March 23) because of the coronavirus pandemic. Mum-of-two Chanttel Carrington said: “We are stranded with little money and three of our party members are in need of prescribed medication. “We have tried to contact the British Embassy multiple times with no success.
“There is no sign of help or support whatsoever.” Other group members include Ms Carrington’s children, IvyRose Mccoy, six, and George Mccoy, four, as well as her partner Barney Mccoy.
They are away with Ms Carrington’s parents, Gary and Denise Carrington, aged 59 and 56 respectively, her sister Charley Carrington, 19, and Charley’s boyfriend, Luke Manning, 18. Ms Carrington says she and Mr Mccoy received rough treatment from local police when they went to get medication and food for their children. They were ordered back to their hotel following the ugly incident, which was witnessed by Ivy-rose and George.
“The police attacked my partner with sticks,” Ms Carrington said.
“My son was crying and asked me ‘are we going to die in this hotel?’.
“The hotel is running out of food and the kids are starting to get poorly and distressed with the situation.”
The group has sought help from their local MP, Gordon Henderson, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the British government, their airline and Goa’s travel and tourism group. They do not need money to return home because they can cover travel costs with UK cash.
But they say they are unable to get their money changed to Indian rupees to pay for their immediate needs.
The government says it is working with the Indian authorities and airlines to support British nationals who want to leave India and return to the UK. But speaking to this paper on Tuesday, Ms Carrington said she has not received any further information from the government.
She added: “We are still stuck in the hotel, we have not heard a thing and food is slowly running down. Everyone is getting worried.”