14 railway staff returning from Bengaluru quarantined in Tripura

A total of 14 railway employees, who arrived at Ambassa in Dhalai district of Tripura, in a train from Bengaluru carrying passengers were taken to a quarantine facility, officials said on Monday.

After train reached Ambassa, penultimate station before Agartala, were shifted to quarantine centre for 14 days on Sunday, district COVID-19 surveillance officer Dr Subhash Barua said.

Passenger train services in country were suspended on March 21 in wake of coronavirus outbreak. Three days later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi anunced a nationwide lockdown for 21 days.

" Bengaluru Cantonment-Agartala Humsafar Express was returning to Agartala without any passenger. 14 people on board train were employees of rastern Frontier Railway," NFR chief PRO Subhanan Chanda told PTI from Guwahati.

Altoger 689 people including two foreigners were w kept in quarantine facility of district, but ne of m showed any major symptoms of COVID-19, Barua said.

Over 7,000 people are under quarantine in state with recent travel history outside or with preliminary symptoms, a government anuncement said.

Meanwhile, transport department Principal Secretary Laihlia Darlong said more than 115 people of state are stranded in different parts of country and 1,400 labourers of West Bengal are stuck in Tripura since lockdown was declared.

Darlong said 11 people stranded in Guwahati were shifted to Tripura Bhawan re and all necessary arrangements were me for m.

Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Sunday has written to his counterparts in Assam, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nu and Delhi, requesting m to arrange for food, accommodation, security and healthcare facilities to citizens of Tripura, who were stranded in those states during 21-day country-wide lockdown.

Deb said Tripura has a rice buffer stock that would last 76 days, 52 days' stock of wheat, sugar stock for 15 days, salt stock for 24 days, petrol stock for 8 days and 'sufficient' stock of LPG.

(Im - AP)