TRAPPED ABROAD AND SECRET PROBE:
Brits still stuck in India as rescue flights dry up
HUNDREDS of Brits stranded abroad for months after flights home dried up say the Government has “forgotten” them.
Desperate tourists are stuck in the Philippines, Bali and India – which has been rocked by power cuts and monsoons.
Lorry driver Peter Howlett and partner Debbie Reilly arrived in Goa in February for a three-week stay.
They are now £2,000 out of pocket after being there five months and having to rent an apartment.
The state, on India’s south west coast, has a strict three-day lockdown in place after a surge of 2,000 cases caused by partygoers flocking to the beaches.
The couple say the UK government’s £75million repatriation effort has “dried up”.
Tourists struggling to arrange their own flights find them quickly filled, or cancelled. Peter, 58, said: “It’s beyond a joke. I’ve been furloughed, so I’ve not missed shifts.
But as UK firms start up again I worry what that’ll mean for me.
“Coronavirus is getting worse here and we’ve been forgotten.” The couple, of south west London, were booked to return on Air India in March.
The airline halted all UK flights just four hours before take-off.
Dad-of-two Peter, a diabetic, had to have a £500 cataract op in Goa, while mum-ofthree Debbie, 56, is battling depression.
Hundreds of Brits are still stranded in India, which has had more than a million Covid-19 cases and 26,508 deaths.
Gran-of-five Maxine Rainback also arrived in February. Her April 22 return was cancelled, as were three more flights she booked.
She is now due to fly from Goa in two weeks but fears being grounded again if lockdown there is extended. Both Maxine and Peter say they contacted the British Embassy for help when it was offered in April but have “heard nothing” since.
Some flights are available at £700 on national carrier Air India – but out of Mumbai, 600 miles away, or Delhi, nearly 2,000 miles distant.
Maxine, 59, from Salford, has lung condition COPD, while partner Tom Marsden, 58, had a triple heart bypass two years ago. She said: “We can’t risk travelling to those cities.
“It’s monsoon season too – elderly people struggle to get out for food. There are daily power cuts. We’re fed up at lack of consular support.”
Brits trapped in Bali – starting to reopen – and the Philippines, where measures are still in place, have made rescue pleas on social media.
The Foreign Office says 38,000 people have been brought home.
They added: “The vast majority seeking to return have now done so, or have commercial options. Our staff continue to support anyone who needs assistance.”
We got in touch with embassy in April. We’ve not heard back since MAXINE RAINBACK ON ATTEMPTS TO GET HOME