PUTRAJAYA, April 2 ― Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar has told Malaysians stranded in Chad and Nigeria to directly contact the Malaysian High Commission in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.

Kamarudin, who is also the Foreign Ministry Covid-19 Task Force chairman, said that based on information received from the Malaysian High Commission in Abuja, the N’djamena Chad Airport is expected to remain closed until further notice.

"Malaysians stranded in Chad can contact the Malaysian High Commission in Abuja directly at +2347031365197,”he said in a statement today.

Regarding Malaysians stranded in Algeria, which went viral on the social media yesterday, Kamarudin said Wisma Putra had taken note of the matter.

"For now, the Algerian government has suspended all commercial flight operations in the country. The Malaysian Ambassador in Algeria is in the process of arranging a special flight to bring home all Malaysians stranded there,” he said.

He added that Wisma Putra, through its representatives overseas, would continue to ensure the well-being of Malaysians stranded in foreign countries.

Malaysian representatives overseas will also take appropriate action to ensure they returned home safely. Wisma Putra also welcomed the help of all parties to bring home affected Malaysians abroad due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

As for Malaysians in India, he said a total of 359 of those stranded in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) safely returned home on board two specially chartered Malindo Air aircraft, which touched down at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) at 5.50am and 4.46pm today.

The next flights from India are scheduled to arrive in Malaysia from April 3 to April 6 and these will bring back a total of 1,790 Malaysians still stranded in India, including in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Trichy, he said.

He added there were 266 Malaysians still stranded in Australia, not including the 59 in Melbourne who are expected to arrive in KLIA at 8.30pm today. ― Bernama