COVID-19: Serbia transports Turkish citizens home

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Serbia on Wednesday evacuated 148 Turkish citizens who were stranded in the country due to the measures taken to curb the spread of new coronavirus known as COVID-19.

An aircraft from the national carrier Air Serbia, arranged by Serbian officials transported the Turkish citizens from Nikola Tesla Airport in the capital Belgrade to Istanbul free of charge.

The airport last week was shut down to all commercial flights.

The last flight from the airport was Turkish Airlines' TK1084 to Istanbul for Turkish citizens with special permission.

After more Turkish citizens requested evacuation from the Turkish Embassy, officials agreed for Wednesday's flight.

Turkey's Ambassador in Belgrade Tanju Bilgic said they made a list of the citizens, and arranged the transfer with Serbian officials.

"148 citizens who applied to the embassy were sent to Istanbul free of charge by Air Serbia today," said Bilgic.

"We could not return to our country. We were a little nervous. Now we are returning. We are very happy," said Ozgur Baran Oflaz, one of the passengers.

Serbia has confirmed 384 COVID-19 cases so far.

The government declared a state of emergency and imposed a night curfew from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. (1600 to 0400GMT).

The country has also shut its borders to foreigners, while schools, colleges, sports halls, and gyms have been closed.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 171 countries and territories. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a pandemic.

The number of confirmed cases worldwide has now surpassed 438,500 while the death toll is over 19,500 and more than 111,500 have recovered, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

Despite the rising number of cases, most who contract the virus suffer only mild symptoms before making a recovery.