Indian Navy rescues 38 stranded Indians from cyclone hit Socotra Island

On June 3, the Indian Navy evacuated 38 stranded Indians from Socotra Island in Yemen where they were stranded for nearly 10 days after a severe Cyclonic storm Mekunu hit the area. The Navy evacuated the Indians as part of operation code name ‘NISTAR’, carried out off the coast of Socotra and embarked them at Indian Naval ship INS Sunayna to bring them back to India. The evacuated Indians were immediately provided with medical care, food, water and telephone facilities to call and reassure their families at home. The Island of Socotra is considered the jewel of biodiversity in the Arabian Sea and is recognised as a world natural heritage site by UNESCO in 2008. It is one of the most isolated landforms on Earth that a third of its plant life is found nowhere else on the planet. Notable are the dragon’s blood trees that look like flying saucers perched on trunks.