DHAKA, April 5, 2020 (BSS) – A total of 322 US citizens left here today as
the US government arranged a second chartered flight for those who opted to
go back home on their personal choice amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Qatar Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft left Hazrat Shahjalal International
Airport (HSIA) with 322 US citizens, two dogs and one cat at 5:58 pm, HSIA
Director Group Captain AHM Touhid-ul Ahsan told media.
The flight carrying the US citizens, mostly expatriate Bangladeshis
residing in the USA permanently, will arrive at Dulles International Airport,
Washington, D.C. via Doha Qatar, while the passengers will remain on the
airplane in Doha.
On March 30, 269 US citizens who had been stranded here due to the global
outbreak of coronavirus first left Bangladesh by an identical charted flight
to USA.
Earlier, the US embassy officials said the US government is not forcing
anyone to return to the US, this is a personal choice based on what its
nationals are comfortable with.
They said this kind of arrangement is not only taking place in Bangladesh
as so far, the US State Department arranged special flights from 28 countries
around the globe to take back nearly 10,000 US citizens to the USA.