Soon after an Asiana Airlines flight from Incheon, South Korea, landed in Almaty at around 8 p.m. on January 5, a public announcement system cracked, with the captain instructing passengers to sit down.
Luiramsing Zimmick, who was probably the lone Indian passenger on the plane, initially thought COVID-19 Protocol in Kazakhstan’s largest city could cause delays – a notion that was shattered when the pilot spoke further.
“We were told that we would be taken to the nearest fire station. The authorities had lost control of the airport. Over the next hour, we found ourselves at the fire brigade, where we were asked to spend the night as clashes broke out across the city,” said Zimik, a resident of Senapati district in Manipur. Indian Express On the phone from Almaty on Wednesday. His connecting flight to India was on January 6 at 7 am.
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The plane carrying Zimik, who is pursuing a master’s in divinity at Hoseo University in South Korea, landed the same evening when the Almaty airport was briefly occupied by anti-government protesters as demonstrations against the hike in fuel prices. led to violence in the Central Asian country, once a constituent of the then Soviet Union.
As protest flights halted, foreign nationals who had visited Kazakhstan, including Indians, were left stranded.
The unrest began around 2 January, after which the Kazakh authorities called in a Russian-led military coalition and issued orders to shoot. About 12,000 protesters have been arrested in the ensuing crackdown, and reportedly more than a hundred people have been killed.
Delhi-based travel firm owner Sumeet Nagpal, along with his wife and two daughters aged seven and eight, are among those stranded in Almaty.
“We arrived in Kazakhstan on 30 December to celebrate the New Year. By January 5, things went non-stop and we had no idea that there was going to be such a large-scale violence in the city. At 4 am on January 6, four hours before our return flight to Delhi, we received a call from the airport asking us to stay at the hotel. And since then we are stuck here,” Nagpal said over phone.
Both Nagpal’s family and Jimik have managed to speak to officials of the Indian mission in Kazakhstan. However, the officials have not shared any definite timeline with them.
“I am physically fit but mentally exhausted. I was returning home due to a family emergency. I currently have $100 left. The hotel fee is $50 per night. The hotel management has told me not to worry about the bill for now, but I have to pay. The Indian mission has said they will see what can be done,” said Zimick, 25.
After spending the night of January 5 at the fire station, Zimik accompanied Korean travelers to a hotel with officials from that country’s embassy.
“By the time it was my turn, all the rooms had been taken. The Korean authorities did their best to help me. Then I started looking for another hotel myself. The streets were silent and there were few people outside. I found a room in the hotel where I am now staying – after hours of walking. Later, I tried to reach out to the Indian Mission but could not do so. Eventually, it happened through my parents in India,” he said.
Nagpal had some tense moments at the hotel as local security personnel came in search of five alleged criminals on January 7. He said: “When I was coming out of an elevator, the security personnel stopped me. Hotel staff arrived and explained that I was the guest. The staff, who haven’t left the hotel in over a week, and the travel agency we came here through, have been exceptionally helpful throughout. But I hope the Indian government will make arrangements for our return at the earliest.
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