328 US citizens leave Bangladesh on special flight

A total of 328 US citizens left Dhaka this evening on a special flight arranged by the US government for those who opted to return home amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

The special chartered flight of Qatar Airlines left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at 6:10pm, a top official of Aviation Security at HSIA told The Daily Star.

On March 30, some 269 US nationals left Dhaka for the USA by a special chartered flight.

Today's flight carrying the US citizens, including 17 children and some expatriate Bangladeshis residing permanently in the USA, will arrive at Dulles International Airport, Washington D.C. via Doha, Qatar.

The passengers will remain on the airplane in Doha.

The USA has been making similar arrangements for nearly 10,000 of its citizens in 28 countries around the globe, according to the US embassy in Dhaka.

Earlier, citizens of other countries including Russia, Japan, Malaysia, Bhutan and Germany left Dhaka following the outbreak of Covid-19 in Bangladesh.